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n?Sylvester chuckled at Xavia’s frozen face. He knew what her mind was going through. Although there was hope in her heart, her mind had already decided that Sylvester was dead for good this time.

n“I feel sad that you all even thought I could die.” Sylvester entered and hugged Xavia tightly against his chest. In no time, he felt drops of her tears rolling down on his shoulder. “But, such is the bond of blood. I’m home, Mum.”

nXavia didn’t let him leave her tight embrace either. Her voice shook at places, but she spoke nonetheless. “I’m getting old, Max. S-Stop scaring my weak heart like this.”

nSylvester smiled, but that was something he couldn’t promise. “I promise everything will be fixed after this one last time. The end is approaching faster than you think, Mum.”

n“Where to now?” Xavia looked up at his face.

n“To the place that matters. Beyond the boundaries of what we see as reality. That’s where our enemies lay.” Sylvester explained without any reservation. After all, he had no idea if he would win this one. His power was still a far cry from that of the Primordial Gods. “But Mum, have you thanked Xylena yet?”

nXavia finally stepped away from him and looked at the bed. “Thank her?”

nSylvester nodded and walked to the side of the bed before leaning down, allowing Xylena to hug him. “Of course. If not for Xye, I wouldn’t be alive right now. She guided me through the cosmic void outside space and time. She gave me her hand when I had lost all hope.”

nXylena teared up as well. “I finally know why I saw you in my visions.”

n“Same for me, Xye.” Sylvester patted her head, making a mess of her ashen black hair. “I’ll be teaching you martial magic, literary knowledge, and science from now on. You have a bigger role to play in this world than being a Queen in nothing but name.”

n“What?!”

nThat came out of nowhere and surprised Xylena. Up until now, she believed she was, at best, average with a single unique magical talent in spatial elements.

nOf course, Sylvester saw it differently. After meeting Solis, he had the answer of whose story he was living in. He was a traveler, a guest at best, while Xylena was to be the real main driving force of the world, or at least, supposed to be.

nIf anything, he now knew who his successor should be. Who had the best mental capacity and fate’s blessing to guide the world after him.

n“Do you think I’ll be the unofficial ruler of the world forever?” Sylvester replied in a scolding tone. “I want to retire as soon as possible and live a peaceful life. Away from the Holy Land, perhaps somewhere on a little farm. With Mum by my side, along with Chonky, I’d grow what I eat and make music as I see fit.”

n“And me?” Ella stepped forward just then, desperately looking at Sylvester to see what he had planned for her.

nSylvester always doted on her, his officially adopted daughter, according to the law. He rushed up to her, grabbed her in his arms, and picked her up. She had grown a year older now and, hence taller. But still much shorter than him.

nHer blonde hair was still shoulder length, and her blue eyes now held a little more compassion and emotions than what she had started with.

n“My Ella will live with me, and I’ll teach you everything I know. Unless you don’t want to…?”

n“I want to!” Ella chirped, “I want to be with Father, Grandma, and Chonky.”

nJust imagining that sort of life made Sylvester feel ticklish in his chest. Sadly, he no longer had a heart, now a monstrosity of nature.

nHe tapped on Ella’s little nose and let her down. “In that case, why don’t you go and give Chonky a few squishes?”

n“Nyooooo~!” Miraj cried and tried to climb onto Xavia’s shoulder. But he was too big now, and his own fur made it harder. In addition, Xavia wasn’t strong enough to carry his weight. “Maxy, why~?”

nSylvester laughed and let the two play. He turned a little serious and called Xavia closer to Xylena’s bed. Gabriel, Aurora, and Lord Inquisitor also came nearer.

n“Felix is stuck in the Demon World, so I’ll go and bring him back. This time, it will be as easy as moving my finger—much has changed.” Sylvester assured them and walked to Xylena’s bedside table to pick up the magic communicator. “I’ll have the holy scribes take a photograph of me and publish it in tomorrow’s newspaper. Let the world know I’m back. Much of the corruption and bad actors will halt their activities on their own.”

n“You won’t punish them?” Gabriel asked.

n“I never said that. The moment they decided to rebel against the peaceful order for their petty, selfish desires, they forfeited their lives. A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, I don’t care how many they number. They’ll be purged from existence,” Sylvester sternly commanded, his mere words holding an invisible force that froze the deputy Pope and the two Guardians. “Lead me to Empress Zenith and Dalgan first.”

n“I knew how preposterous were their demand,” Lord Inquisitor responded to his command at the quickest, feeling energized again. “I shall prepare the Inquisitors to move out as you command.”

n“The demons are in the dungeon,” Gabriel added. “We haven’t touched them since doing so could earn the Demon Empress’ ire.”

n“You did well. The demons are not our enemies. They suffer the same fate as our world does, and face the same dangers as us. The two Primordial Gods are after their lives, pushing them towards a war with our side.” Sylvester clarified but didn’t justify all the deaths the demons had caused. “Lead me to them.”

nHowever, before heading out, Sylvester looked back. “Mum, I’ve invited the Council to home. I’ll cook dinner tonight.”

nXavia couldn’t be happier. “I’ll send someone to buy the supplies quickly.”

n“Maxy!”

n“Stay with Mum, Chonky. I’m not going anywhere before morning.”

nBefore morning was the word that most failed to notice.

n…

nDungeons of the Pope’s Palace,

nIt being the Pope’s Palace, even the dungeons were prepared accordingly. After all, prisoners of the Pope were also of high status. Even then, there existed various prison zones with varied qualities.

nSylvester was led to the one with the best features. It looked more like a massive apartment with multiple rooms, a massive hall, and even a recreation room with musical instruments and some board games.

nClack! Click!

nGabriel unlocked the door and allowed Sylvester to enter first. “We treated them with respect, Sylvester. Three meals a day, plenty of refreshments. We even fed them the Bard’s food, and they asked for more.”

n‘Are they here on a picnic?’ Sylvester’s brows twitched. ‘Who knows what the Demon World is like now without the Empress’s presence?’

nHe walked inside but didn’t see the two anywhere. So, he went deeper and eventually arrived in a smaller living room with a low coffee table in the middle. He noticed they were sitting on the floor on each side of the table.

nBam!

n“How dare you?! The rules are written behind the box, Dalgan!”

n“Empress Mother, the rules make no sense.”

n“Dalgan, don’t try to act smart with me. You can’t stack a plus-

nfour on my plus-four. You have to take four cards and lose your turn,” the Empress bellowed.

nAt the gate of the door, Sylvester sighed in amusement. Uno was a game he had created long ago and handed over to the various trade guilds to produce and promote. Sadly, the card game never became famous in this world.

n“What’s going on here?” Sylvester voiced just then.

nZenith and Dalgan’s faces turned towards him at the same time. A short moment of shock overcame them, but the very next moment, Zenith picked up the card box, and Dalgan picked up his card.

n“Sylvester, tell this buffoon how this game is played,” Zenith roared.

n“Pope Sylvester, your rules make no sense.”

n“…”

nSylvester wondered if letting them stay in the dungeon was a better option. ‘Have they gone insane from the confinement?’

n“If you two want to go back home, follow me. If you want to continue bickering on this game, stay here.” Sylvester didn’t even stand there for long and turned around to leave.

n“Tsk.” Zenith sneered at Dalgan and rushed behind him after draping her armor back with a big hooded cloak on her head. “When did you come back to life, Sylvester?”

n“I was never dead,” Sylvester blurted, realizing they had added to the rumor that he was dead. “Why did you think I died?”

n“Because you asked us to take care of Chonky,” Dalgan chimed in, covered from head to toe. “Sadly, we couldn’t see that furball after we arrived in this world.”

nSylvester didn’t blame them for it. Even he had thought he was going to die. “I’ll take you back home tomorrow morning.”

n“How? There are no other portals,” Zenith questioned.

n“There is one, but it likely leads to somewhere extremely dangerous in your world. It alone has mutated an entire ocean here, turning its creatures into demonic monstrosities, no offense.”

n“None taken, and Darkpit Sea?!” Zenith exclaimed. “I read about it here. So that’s why it’s so dangerous?”

n“We’ll know when we get in—” Sylvester abruptly lost the words in his mouth as soon as they arrived at the ground floor of the Palace, near the entry gates.

nGabriel also panicked and stepped in front of Sylvester, “Q-

nQueen Isabella, His Holiness just arriv—”

nSylvester pushed his friend aside and walked forward. At the entry gate stood Isabella with her long hair unkempt, her white, plain, long-sleeved ankle-length maternity gown loosely tied on her body. She had clearly come in haste, and from the tears in her eyes, she had undoubtedly come to see him.

n“A-Are they?” He reached her and noticed three little bundles of soft clothes in her tight embrace, each holding sleeping babies. “Are they the triplets?”

nIsabella didn’t respond, as if she couldn’t hear him. Her gray eyes, reddened and tired, drowned themselves in tears. She abruptly pushed her forehead into his chest, hiding her face. She was one of those who were told Sylvester had died, after all.

n“S-Sylvester…” She wailed uncontrollably, “Nobody tells me anything… Where is Felix? Please tell me something… I beg you.”

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