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n?In that very moment, Howard’s sword slashed through Ankurei’s shield!

nWith no time left for thought, Ankurei instinctively sidestepped, his long sword sweeping upward from below, aiming directly at Howard’s wrist.

nAlthough Howard was faster, Ankurei’s distance was shorter; if Howard insisted on slashing down, his wrist would be severed before his attack could land.

nAfter quickly calculating the outcome, Howard immediately changed his move.

nHis muscles, as if needing no rest and defying their structure, exerted force continuously.

nHoward made a phantom-like dodging maneuver, narrowly avoiding Ankurei’s subsequent attack and retreating to a safe distance.

nAnkurei casually tossed aside the compass, gripping the long sword in one hand and drawing a dagger from his waist with the empty left hand.

nIt was different, completely different from before.

nAlthough there was no increase in speed, the movements were entirely different!

nIf Howard previously had speed without corresponding control, now he had rectified his last weakness.

nThe Howard now was worlds apart from the Howard of moments ago.

nAnkurei’s moves were completely anticipated by him.

nHow did he manage that!

nAnkurei took a deep breath, realizing that the current Howard was no longer the Level 3 magus he could underestimate and mock.

nInstead, he was a dangerous enemy on the same, or even a higher, level as himself.

nA slip in caution, and he might very well die here!

nIn truth, he hadn’t reached the level of a Level 2 magus; at best, he was among the top tier within Level 3 magi.

nHowever, with various mana artifacts enhancing him, he was more dangerous than an average Level 2 magus. .

nTaking a step forward, Ankurei intended to seize the initiative with a main attack, but Howard acted even faster.

nA lateral sprint turned into a blur, with a change of direction on the ground and swords crossing.

nAnkurei’s field of vision was filled only with two interweaving flashes of silver light.

nIt took him a tenth of a second to realize he couldn’t block this strike head-on, so Ankurei tried to retreat to create space for defense.

nBut it was too late.

nLike a bolt of lightning, Howard seemingly completed three sharp changes of direction in a blur, catching up with the swiftly retreating Ankurei.

nHis right-hand sword aimed straight for the neck, while the left-hand sword struck from the waist, slashing towards Ankurei.

nAnkurei, unable to react in time, could only manage to raise his long sword in front of him to block, but the dual swords had already slashed down.

nClang—

nThree successive light screens flickered.

nA clear, resonant sound of metal clashing echoed.

nBlocked it?

nAnkurei landed, his gaze fixed on the motionless Howard, but everything in his sight began to invert.

nHe tried to control his body, but the muscles that always responded promptly now seemed so sluggish.

nFinally, in the inverted view, he saw his body from a strange angle he had never seen before, as if lying on the ground looking upwards.

nAt that moment, Ankurei’s lingering consciousness finally reacted.

nHis vision faded to black.

nHe hadn’t blocked those two swords.

n“The Second Plan completed, energy remaining at twenty percent, expected to enter sleep mode in one minute.”

nHoward stood still, sheathing his swords.

nThe surrounding mist began to dissipate, revealing the true space.

nIt was a deserted crossroad, with a sign written in the common language of the Silverwind Kingdom spelling “Silverlight” standing to one side.

nA crescent moon hung high in the sky, and a cold wind silently flowed through, lifting the hem of garments and carrying a faint scent of blood.

nAnkurei lay on the ground in a gruesomely decapitated manner.

n“Splendid! Splendid! What a marvelous battle! Not a moment’s delay, clean and decisive. I dare say, you must have calculated precisely when Ankurei would die! Such a level is barely a warm-up for you!”

nWith the sound of footsteps, Dorek appeared at one end of the crossroad, with Nula and a white wolf following behind him.

nWithout turning his head, Howard spoke, “You flatter me, sir. I merely chose the course of action with the highest probability of success.”

n“Sir, since you wished for my appearance, have you prepared the energy necessary to sustain my existence? In another twenty seconds, I will enter a state of hibernation.”

n“I’m sorry, not yet. The time is not ripe; you’ll have to continue hibernating. If you have any requests, it’s best to make them now. We don’t know when you’ll wake up next.”

nDorek shook his head, seeming not surprised by Howard’s condition.

nIn fact, from Howard’s statements, it seemed he was intentionally guided to become what he is now.

n“That’s truly unfortunate news.”

nHoward’s voice remained even, yet a hint of disappointment could be discerned, “Please take good care of the base material; he is the most important part. My existence is only meant to protect him.” .𝒎

n“I understand.”

nDorek nodded.

nTwenty seconds passed.

nHoward closed his eyes, losing consciousness and collapsing to the ground.

nAfter confirming Howard had lost consciousness, Nula, who had stood silently behind Dorek, breathed a sigh of relief and tugged at Dorek’s sleeve: “Mentor, is that what we’re looking for? It doesn’t seem like a typical extraterrestrial. I felt a bit afraid facing it.”

n“Spirit of Destiny, it’s a prophecy handed down from the Nid race. I don’t know if it’s correct or not. But as of now, he’s the most likely candidate. Nula, your fear is not unfounded. To be honest, even I am afraid!”

nDorek took a deep breath and continued, “Though he appears to be just a Level 3 magus, if he really took action, killing me would be no different from killing Ankurei! That soul is the natural enemy of all living beings. As long as it’s an intelligent being, as long as it has emotions, it cannot escape its hunt.”

n“What exactly is it?”

n“I don’t know,” Dorek sighed, “I’m just an ant plodding along the path of fate, able to see nothing but the starry sky when I look up.”

n“Let’s clean up this mess. Howard’s companions will be arriving soon, and it won’t be good for them to see this scene.”

nNula hesitated for a few seconds before finally asking, “Then, mentor, is Howard, in the end, alive or dead?”

nShe had saved Howard once, preserving him in fragments, then watched as he recovered to normal within three days.

nAnd now, she witnessed a miracle for the second time.

nHoward had already regained his heartbeat and breathing, and the wounds on his body had completely healed.

nDorek paused for a few seconds, his voice sounding as if it came from the netherworld.

n“To it, life and death have no meaning.”

n…

nWhen Howard woke up, his view was filled only with the swaying blue sky.

nLying on dry straw, a few lazy clouds drifted across the sky, a breeze blew, and the warm and gentle sunlight shone on his face, tickling it, involuntarily making one want to sleep.

nYawning, Howard felt no desire to move.

nWhere is this place? What time is it?

nIt all seemed irrelevant now.

nHas the quest in Lorinda ended? Is Red Eye dead? Has Lilianne been saved? What happened to that Old Noble in the end?

nAll these matters seemed distant from him now.

nIs this, a new world…?

nLike an old toy whose spring was about to run out, covered in rust, Howard now had no desire to act.

nDeath, having experienced it once, is something no one would want to experience a second time, let alone he who didn’t know how many times he had undergone it.

nAnd might there even be more in the future? Who can say?

nHe recalled those blurry memories from his childhood, the weak perception of the outside world, the dullness towards pain and even death, all seemingly hinting at a fact.

nBeneath the name Howard lies a mystery far beyond his own imagination.

nAnd the appearance of Nula and Dorek, from who knows where, greatly confirmed this speculation.

nEven the “gods” have shown interest in him!

nShould I feel honored?

nHoward let out a low scoff.

nHe didn’t know what those so-called “gods” were exactly, but he knew one thing: one of those “gods” might now be lurking in some corner, silently observing his every move.

nIt sounded incredible, but Howard’s intuition told him so.

nMore accurately, it was the mystery beneath his intuition informing him, though he still couldn’t see the true face of that mystery clearly.

nHowever, Howard seemed to have found a way to communicate with it, gaining some understanding of a few things.

nOne of the unknown entity’s purposes seemed to be protecting him.

nThinking back to the previous accidents, Howard had reason to believe that those were the results of the mysterious entity’s intervention.

n“I wonder how Antalya and the others are doing now.”

n“It’s a pity, Vivia was quite cute, and since no one knows, developing a relationship with her probably wouldn’t have been a problem,” Howard said, placing his hands behind his head and sighing.

nUnexpectedly, an apple appeared in his view, tracing a full arc in the air and hitting him on the head.

n“What nonsense are you talking about? Sleeping for so long, and the first thing you say upon waking up is this?”

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