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A buzzing sound suddenly filled the air. A brilliant green light flashed, cutting through the thick white smoke like a sharp arrow aimed directly at Durance.

Durance remained calm and composed. The golden rapier at his side emitted rings of light, resonating with the imperfect domain of the room and casting a faint golden glow. Time appeared to slow down as the green light approached Durance. The closer it got, the more resistance it encountered until it came to a halt less than a foot away from him. The sharp and slender weapon, resembling a hairpin, trembled but was unable to advance even an inch.

Durance’s gaze scanned the motionless green light, and exclaimed in surprise, “A disposable offensive magic relic?”

“It appears that an enemy is really here.” With a wave of her sleeve, Lesiah swiftly stowed away her cherished tea set into her storage ring. She then laced her fingers and rested her chin on them, as if waiting for a good show to start.

Thea and Brea were immediately nervous. Magic power coursed through their bodies as they swept their gaze over the still-green light before fixating on the direction where the smoke-covered doorway in their memory was located, ready to react if the enemy attempted to enter.

Durance flicked his rapier, causing it to emit a dazzling golden light. The green disposable magic relic was instantly reduced to dust. “Don’t worry too much, the enemy isn’t too strong. I can handle it,” Durance assured with a smile. He then blew the cloud of dust from the destroyed magic relic floating in the air, causing it to mix into white smoke.

While disposable magic relics could be powerful, they also had some troublesome traits—it could often yield unexpected results against enemies. Due to its expensive and unique materials, it was not as effective in combat as sacred artifacts aided by artifact spirits. As a result, it became less popular throughout the continent. Even Durance, a member of a wealthy family, had not seen one in years.

The last time Durance had seen a disposable magic relic was five years ago when he accompanied his father to suppress mountain bandits. The bandits, aware that they were being targeted by the Count’s family, knew that it would be difficult to escape. Therefore, they chose to fight with all they had and spent all their savings buying five disposable offensive magic relics that carried special magical side effects such as paralysis, sleep, poison, hypnosis, and decay, from the black market.

The magic relics nearly caused irreversible harm to Durance, but they hardly posed a threat to his father, who had just entered the Saint Realm. This was also one of the major drawbacks of disposable magic relics—they were only effective against weaker opponents and were not a cost-effective option for those with greater strength. Anyone with that kind of money would rather invest in more powerful elixirs or treasures to enhance their strength instead.

Durance shook his head and called out softly, “Stella.”

A sweet, feminine voice answered his call as countless tiny specks of light resembling fireflies emerged from Durance’s golden rapier, a sacred artifact of remarkable quality that had been passed down in his family.

Slicing noises filled the air once again, swift and constant like the buzzing of bees. Dozens of ghostly green lights appeared and sliced through the white smoke with a chilling glow. They struck the specks of golden light floating in the air, causing a collision that made no deafening noise. The expensive magic relics lost their glow and tinkled as they fell to the ground.

The enemy must have thought that using multiple magic relics at once would work since using a single one did not seem to be effective. Even so, Durance found their strategy to be naive… It was almost silly and cute.

If they had enough money to purchase so many disposable magic relics, they could have bought a real sacred artifact. The money required to buy these useless toys was definitely enough for a high-quality sacred artifact that would prove much more useful and effective. Even with Golden Stella in hand, Durance could not confidently say that he could withstand a direct attack from a real sacred artifact.

Thea was still concerned and asked, “Do you need our help?”

Durance shook his head. “Don’t worry, it’s just some petty tricks that aren’t worth drawing my rapier for.” His attention shifted towards the direction from where the green light had been fired. As the domain and golden glow expanded, the white smoke that had previously obscured his vision became nothing more than a mirage.

“Huh? The enemy actually withdrew?” Durance’s domain was not yet fully developed, so it became increasingly difficult to stabilize as it grew. As a result, its expansion was slow, and Durance could not clearly see the appearance of the enemy outside the door. All that was visible was a dark trail of light as it swiftly passed by, leaving behind a clear image of its escape.

“Withdrew?” Lesiah pouted in disappointment. “How boring, I thought I could watch a good show for free.”

“Crown Princess, while it’s valuable to engage with others and gain knowledge, it’s important to discern what is truly worth learning. In my opinion, Lilith’s penchant for drama and mischief is quite enough. Having another individual like her will only lead to chaos,” Durance remarked helplessly.

Lesiah rested her chin on her hand and said, “I’m just really bored but I don’t think I’m as awful as Lilith.”

Durance remained silent, acknowledging that, while Lesiah might not be as awful as Lilith, their brief acquaintance had already revealed Lilith’s influence on her. He wondered if prolonged exposure to Lilith would lead Lesiah down the same path. He feared that by then, their double princesses buff, in addition to their echoing of each other, would create a superimposed effect, putting the safety of the entire continent at risk.

“A-Anyhow… let’s proceed with caution… If the enemy’s temporary retreat is a ploy to deceive us… that would be terrible…” Brea said, trembling as she hugged herself.

“True, the enemy is unlikely to give up so easily.” Durance nodded in agreement. “So, Your Highness, what do you suggest we do?”

“What else can we possibly do other than preparing ourselves to respond to any situations? Since the enemy retreated in defeat, they’ll definitely make smaller moves to find our weakness instead of attempting another direct attack on Durance.” Lesiah’s expression then turned serious as she continued, “This means things will get dangerous for… the weakest one among our group.”

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! That accursed Aneva brat is on the verge of breaking through to the Saint Realm. Not only that, he also possesses a sacred artifact! Can these annoying prodigies just die already?!”

Amidst the pristine white smoke, an unpleasant and hoarse voice rang out. It belonged to none other than the incredibly hideous doll that was emitting a dark glow. As its black aura flickered, the white smoke surrounding it churned erratically.

“This is all that damn Lilith’s fault for forcing me to destroy my physical body. Otherwise… otherwise these guys would have been mine!”

Without a physical body to rely on, Lacey’s abilities were greatly limited when he was in his doll form. One of the biggest problems was that… the doll could not write. The ragdoll’s palms did not even have fingers, making it impossible to hold a pen. Without the ability to write his opponent’s name, Lacey could not use his power to forcefully break his enemy’s mental defense. With no other means than a few disposable magic relics, facing Durance would be no different than courting death for Lacey.

“Damn it, I was too reckless! I should have a spare body prepared.” Lacey seethed, but there was nothing he could do.

The countless ordinary people on the ship that could have been mentally invaded by him had already evacuated the ship just now, leaving only mages or warriors onboard. Without breaking the barrier of their spiritual world, he would not be able to control them. Moreover, targeting Lilith’s acquaintances proved to be a challenging task.

Lacey thought for a moment before spitting out a spectrum stone from his nearly all stitched-up mouth. The spectrum stone was glowing, showing the inside of the room where Durance and the others were in.

Lacey had installed detection magic relics in every room in cases of emergency. These relics were very well-hidden, making them extremely difficult to be discovered. After all, the reputation of Lovetide would be ruined if anyone found out about them.

Lacey only used this to look for a solution in a seemingly impossible situation. He was running out of time and must act quickly to identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities of his opponents. If he failed to do so, the consequences could be dire.

“Wait, this is…”

Lacey saw a glimmer of hope. A precious little girl who appears to be around four or five years old was curled up on the large pink bed in the corner of the room. She was fast asleep, occasionally turning over and sucking her thumb.

“T-The heaven… hasn’t forsaken me yet!” Lacey’s petite body trembled with excitement as he did not expect to find hope at his darkest hour.

Age was not a concern for him. As long as the little girl could hold a pencil and write, he would be able to fully utilize his abilities. Moreover, it was easier for him to mentally invade a young girl like her discreetly.

Lacey’s button-stitched eyes gleamed with malice, he had already crafted the perfect plan in his mind! He would sneak into the room and silently take control of the little girl first. From there, he could manipulate the remaining people.

Theoretically, his ability had no limit to the number of people he could control. Lacey was just a perfectionist and in his pursuit of perfection, that beautiful skin from before was the only body he had.

However, this was not the time to pursue perfection. Even though these people were repulsive, he had to force himself to accept them. This was all part of his plan for revenge against Lilith! He would make her his toy, and trap her consciousness in her body eternally to torment her.

The more he thought about it, the harder it was to control his growing restlessness.

Hehehe. Just wait, Lilith!
The game isn’t over yet. The winner will be revealed soon!