Whoosh!

Golden light burst from his body, shooting up into the sky and illuminating an area dozens of kilometers away.

However, the white-haired man remained calm and relaxed, as if completely unaffected.

The light lasted for several minutes before slowly fading.

"Oh? Are you finally getting serious?" The man smiled slightly.

He saw a towering, enormous golden dragon. It was hundreds of meters long, with two golden horns protruding from its head.

Its golden wings spread proudly, and its claws looked so sharp they seemed capable of tearing anything in the world apart.

Its face was fierce, its teeth sharp, and hot light occasionally flickered between them.

It was the most powerful guardian spirit in the world—the Dragon of Light, Calystron.

"Why did you call me, Gabriel?" Calystron asked coldly.

Standing on its head, Gabriel replied in a gloomy tone, "I need your help, Calystron. The enemy ahead is very strong. I can't defeat him."

Calystron stared at the white-haired man, shocked.

"He has no aura! How is that possible?" It exclaimed in horror.

It could see the life aura of anyone—even ordinary humans gave off a faint white glow.

But strangely, the man in front of them had none at all.

"No aura, huh?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "I knew he was dangerous and unpredictable. Good thing I called you quickly. Otherwise, I would've lost."

For the first time, he admitted he was weaker than the white-haired man.

All his attacks—even after using the Vanguard of Light Holy Sword—couldn't harm him at all.

When he first broke through to the First Spirit Core stage, Gabriel felt invincible.

But it turned out that the saying "there is sky above sky" was indeed true.

"Well, it's only natural that you lost. That man is indeed very strong. Even though he has no life aura, I can still feel a terrifying threat from him—like a sharp sword ready to pierce my soul," Calystron confessed honestly.

"So, you don't have the confidence to defeat him?" Gabriel glanced at it indifferently.

"Hehehe…" Calystron grinned widely. "Of course I'm confident. He's strong, but I'm not weak either. With you, we can definitely defeat him."

It was clear that Calystron had great confidence in its own strength. As a being who once fought on equal terms with Arthur Solayne, its pride was naturally high.

Giving up, even against a powerful opponent, was impossible for it.

"Good! I like your spirit!" Gabriel flashed a thin smile. "Then let's defeat him!"

He clasped his hands together. Golden flames instantly wrapped around his body, followed by a golden crown that appeared and floated above his head.

This was his transformation mode, an ability only possessed by those who had reached the First Spirit Core stage.

They could borrow the power of the world, but in exchange, a quarter of their life force was taken as payment.

It was clear that this was Gabriel's desperate move to defeat the white-haired man.

In the distance, the man remained calm and relaxed. Lightning flickered in his eyes, filled with mockery.

He twirled the magic staff in his left hand, then pointed the purple crystal floating above it at them.

"Come here, both of you. Let me show you what true power is."

...

"Ugh…" Crystal opened her heavy eyes. What greeted her was the familiar ceiling of her room.

"My room? Who brought me here?" She muttered in confusion.

When she tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through her head.

She reluctantly slowed her movements before finally managing to sit up and lean against the headboard.

"Huff…" She let out a long sigh and rubbed her temples.

A blue light glowed from her palm, and the pain gradually faded.

Clack!

The door opened, and Luna entered, carrying a tray of food.

"Ancestor? You're awake?" Her face brightened with relief, and she quickly approached her.

Crystal gave a weak smile. "Yes, I'm awake. By the way, what happened to me? And why am I in my room? I was in the treasure room earlier, wasn't I?"

Luna placed the tray on the nightstand and let out a deep sigh.

"Earlier…" She explained everything that had happened.

Crystal listened, and her expression immediately darkened.

"So I fainted, huh?" she muttered with a frown. "And the war? Is it still going on or…"

Her voice trailed off; the meaning was clear.

Luna took a plate of food and handed it to her.

"The war is still going on, Ancestor. But I don't know what's happening on the battlefield. The ministers have fled."

Crystal was stunned. "The ministers fled? How is that possible?"

Luna smiled wryly. "I don't know either. Half an hour ago, many of them fled the palace. I'm not sure where they went, but it must be somewhere safe."

Crystal fell completely silent. She never expected her ministers to be such cowards.

In the middle of a war like this—especially when she was unconscious—they should have been the ones standing up to calm the people or do something.

But instead, they all ran away. Still, when she remembered the results of the investigation from a few days ago, her gloomy expression slowly returned to normal.

Almost sixty percent of them were traitors. Some had been planted as spies from the start, while others chose to betray the kingdom during the previous war.

"Hah…" Crystal shook her head sadly. "It seems we've truly lost, Luna. I'm sorry for failing to protect this kingdom… and for breaking my promise to you."

When Merlin and Luna first came to her, she thought she could change the course of history.

But reality proved that history could not be changed at all. The fall of the Kingdom of Avernia was predestined.

"No, don't blame yourself, Ancestor." Luna shook her head gently, trying to comfort her. "This is destiny. Merlin and I should've worked harder to change it. This is our fault."

"You two are just children. All of this is beyond your control," Crystal muttered softly. "It's okay… It's fine. Even if I lose, I've already accepted this fate."

She placed the plate on her lap and began eating with gusto.

After summoning the Seven Celestial Generals, she was exhausted and needed to replenish her strength.

"After I finish eating, go to where Altarus and Dariel are. Don't be late, okay?" Crystal reminded her.

Luna quickly shook her head. "No, I don't want to! You're still here, and Merlin is on the battlefield too. How could I possibly run away?"

"You…" Crystal wanted to scold her, but the words wouldn't come out.

In the end, she held back and quietly started forming an escape plan for Luna.

At that moment, a voice echoed in Crystal's mind.

"Your Majesty, it's me—the leader of the Seven Celestial Generals. We… have won…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.