Seeing the Light Gate at the end of the passage, Ash not only didn't relax but became even more tense.

The first day's chaos at the door of the Cicada Hibernation Hall, the divided and disorderly battle in the Cicada Hall on the second day, who knew whether today's Cicada Chrysalis Hall would stir up even more troubles.

For instance, the hall might turn into a narrow corridor that only allowed a single person to pass sideways, forcing them to brush past one another; or the hall could become pitch-dark, with several trial phantoms thrown in, forcing them to fight each other in the chaos; or the hall could turn into a confinement room that couldn't be left until mating...

Yet, nothing of the sort happened.

When Ash and Yooran entered the hall, they saw Observer and Weiser already waiting inside. Then a Light Gate appeared on each side of the hall—the trial wasn't forcing them to stay there, so anyone in a hurry to use the bathroom could leave early.

Of course, there was danger—after all, from this moment on, Ash and Yooran, Observer and Weiser, were no longer teammates but had returned to being competitors in a sequence of enemies. Plus, being so close, the teammate who had your back just a second ago could turn around and stab you the next.

However, not only did Ash and Yooran not make a move, but even Observer and Weiser also seemed to have lost the will to fight. They silently made eye contact, as if each could see the weariness in the other's eyes.

Without any superfluous exchange of words, Observer directly stepped towards Ash, while Yooran voluntarily moved away from Ash, approaching Weiser.

The confused team pairings finally started to return to normal.

However, as Observer and Yooran passed by each other, Yooran glanced unconsciously at the man next to her. He, however, did not look aside; his right hand rested on his sword hilt the whole time, without even a flicker of his gaze lingering for a second on her fox mask.

Then, Observer saw a sincere smile curling up on the corners of Ash's mouth, his arms opening wide towards him. This scene caused Observer to recall his nightmare, making him hesitate for half a second, not avoiding Ash's embrace.

"Welcome back, brother!"

Observer's hand, holding the sword hilt, tightened a bit.

"I thought you were either killed by Silver Lamp or took the opportunity to backstab Silver Lamp," Ash said, "I'm glad you both are unharmed."

Observer didn't engage with his line of thinking and calmly asked, "Why is it also good that Silver Lamp is unharmed?"

"Because only I must kill Silver Lamp," Ash said earnestly, "only I can."

When did this man develop such a senseless and stupid sense of duty and mission... As Observer was reconstructing Ash's personality model, he heard Ash continue, "You've only been born a few days, phantoms from the trials are one thing, but real life must be killed by me."

"How could I let you bear the debt of life for me?" Ash said, "Blood Moon, Gospel, Senluo... there are already not a few who have died directly or indirectly because of me, and although I don't feel guilty about it, how should I put it, my hands are ultimately no longer clean. After dying, I might have to roam Hell with Igula Harvey for ten thousand years, for ten thousand years..."

"But you are pure and clean," Ash patted Observer's shoulder, "though you might not care about such trivial cleanliness…"

"But I do care."

Ash gave himself a thumbs up, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "As a brother, of course, I should protect my younger brother as much as possible."

Hearing these words, even the tranquil Observer's heart couldn't help but ripple slightly. In it were mockery, ridicule, pity, and aversion, but... the somber feelings that had been hovering in his heart had imperceptibly dissipated without a trace.

On the other side, Yooran returned to Weiser's side, but Weiser seemed not to notice her. The eyes behind the fox mask were intently following Ash's figure.

Seeing this, Yooran felt an impulse for some reason, and reached out to gently touch Weiser's head.

Weiser stepped back two steps instantly, eyeing her with a wary gaze.

Yooran spread her hands with a smile, "What's wrong, you're not welcoming me back to the team? Or do you perhaps want to switch out another teammate?"

Weiser seemed to disdain a response, and as if acknowledging the statement, she turned and walked toward the closing door. Just then, Ash shouted loudly, "Silver Lamp!"

"The next Cicada Transformation Hall will be the end of our story," he said.

The Cicada Chrysalis Hall had two passageways, but the next Cicada Transformation Hall clearly had only one. Even if there were no mechanisms within the hall, they still had to fight it out. Only the victor could continue with the trial; the defeated would have to stay underground—forever.

Weiser turned her head to look at him, and behind the fox mask, a voice emanated a hint of weakness: "Really?"

"I had a long talk with the Lord of Mirrors last night," Ash said. "I know your ideals and understand your predicament. Silver Lamp, you truly are an impressive person. Your willpower, execution, talent, and fortune, even that nearly impractical dream of yours, no one I know can compare to you."

Weiser glanced at Yooran, then back at Ash, and took an unwitting step forward as her tone revealed a touch of surprise and excitement: "Really?"

"So."

Ash gripped the handle of his sword, resolute, "I must eliminate you here, I cannot let you succeed in the Divine Fire Trial and return to the surface! Even if I put aside our entanglements, put aside the competition of this moment, even put aside the disaster you've caused, I cannot watch you succeed with my eyes open!"

"It's not about good or evil, I don't need those pretenses of morality to justify my actions. My determination is simply because you stand on the opposite side," he said, "Next time we meet, I will completely shatter your dreams!"

Weiser exhaled, feeling her body as if it had lightened a great deal, as if about to float away. She opened her eyes, her voice regaining its calm: "Is that so?"

Having said that, she didn't glance again at Ash; she walked into the Light Gate with Yooran and vanished from the hall.

Ash and the Observer also left, and this time the chaotic mechanism for swapping teammates did not appear, and they normally arrived at the resting room. However, since the teammates had not changed, the resting room reverted to a single-room setup, no longer providing separate bedrooms.

The Observer obviously had no demands for living conditions, but when Ash draped his shoulder, he strongly realized the benefits of independent bedrooms: they at least physically prohibited all forms of communication.

"Observer, I have a friend..."

Seeing the Observer's eyes gradually turn cold and disdainful, Ash had to change his words: "Okay, fine, since there's no one else, it's me. Last night, in the Upper Void Realm, although the Sword Maiden seemed to act as if nothing had happened, I feel like it would be too inhumane of me not to respond to her feelings..."

The Observer raised an eyebrow and continued to listen to Ash's tempestuous account from last night.

"...after the Witch held my hand, I didn't understand what she said, and they didn't make any further declaration." Ash folded his arms, his expression very conflicted, "I mean, is it possible, could there be, even the slightest possibility that the Witch might also like me?"

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Although he wanted to say that, the Observer realized his mindset was not quite right; this wasn't the time to tease Ash in order to increase the latter's desire for conversation.

But seeing Ash so troubled over his love life, he couldn't help but smile slightly, calmly saying, "You clearly already have a judgment in your heart, so why ask for my answer?"

"Don't brush me off with that line! I'm scared right now!" Ash scratched his head, "What if they start fighting later on? What if they cool off after a day and realize they maybe don't like me that much? And although I like the Sword Maiden now, I also feel an inexplicable fondness for the Witch and don't want to hurt her. And they're both comrades-in-arms; if because of this..."

Listening to Ash's incessant ramblings, the Observer suddenly felt that perhaps lacking independent bedrooms wasn't so bad after all.

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