Hum—
Green’s face was solemn as he closed his eyes, carefully sensing the Holy Light that had already traveled tens of thousands of miles away from his body.
Although he was still physically located in the desolate borderlands, his consciousness, empowered by the artifact The Forgotten Hero, pierced through layer upon layer of obstacles, heading straight for the prosperous and wealthy Imperial Capital.
Pandala.
This city, whose name meant “Scepter” in the ancient tongue, truly lived up to its title. With just a slight resonance of his soul’s perception, Green sensed the presence of countless powerhouses within this megacity of over a million people. There were at least a hundred Legendary-tier presences—and those were only the ones on the surface.
It was no wonder that even though the Empire was rotting from within, with various factions vying for power and the imperial succession struggle reaching a fever pitch, its rule over its vast territories and hundreds of millions of subjects remained so deeply entrenched.
“Found you.”
Amidst the forest of powerful auras, Green quickly captured several loathsome black currents of energy. They were hidden deep within the most core area of the capital, inside a majestic, ethereal palace that looked like a piece of fairyland.
“Sources of contamination? And more than one.” Green’s expression grew even more grave.
Despite possessing dual-Legendary strength and his “Chosen One” form as a trump card, Green did not dare to be careless. Without further hesitation, he plunged into the depths of the palace. Though covered by countless profound runic arrays—and with the targets not even physically in the material plane—nothing could remain hidden under the artifact skill Judgment, empowered by the Justice Divinity.
“Wherever one walks, traces are left behind.”
BOOM!!!
The moment Green spoke, the inexhaustible Holy Light from his body completely enveloped that small chamber. During this process, he didn’t even alert a single soul; the palace’s heavily guarded warning arrays, which not even a peak Legendary assassin could hope to bypass, didn’t show so much as a ripple.
“Actually, what that Barbarian King said—that no mortal can resist a God—wasn’t entirely without merit.”
The only problem was… that guy wasn’t a true God-favored one. He was merely corrupted by Chaos, deceiving the laws of the world at the cost of burning his entire soul to create an illusion.
“To put it bluntly, he just stole a tiny sliver of authority from the God of the Hunt while the God was too preoccupied to rule the mortal realm.”
However, unlike that unlucky Barbarian King… though the God of Justice had seemingly fallen…
“In the second life simulation, I was a genuine God of Justice for a few minutes!”
Of course, the simulation wasn’t “real” in the traditional sense. But that Adventurer’s Journal possessed the grand power to turn the illusory into the tangible. Therefore, his power was very real.
“No… Impossible?!”
Under the far-reaching radiance of the Holy Light, the pitch-black Chaos power receded rapidly. That force, which even the gods feared like tigers, lost all its usual arrogance before Green’s holy light. Like a beast meeting its natural predator, it dissolved and dissipated in an instant.
The Puppeteer watched everything unfolding before him in shock. For a moment, he almost thought he was hallucinating. Since joining the Circus and being recruited as an official member to master the power of Chaos, this was the first time he had been beaten so helplessly.
Whether it was the Pope of the City of Radiance, the Grand Master of the Paladins, the Archmage of the Neutral City-State Council, the Elven Queen, or the legendary Ancient Dragons… the Puppeteer had always been confident in dealing with them calmly.
But now? His former composure had turned into a frantic, undignified scramble.
Without a second thought, the Puppeteer abandoned the stronghold he had painstakingly cultivated for years. With a wave of his hand, he summoned over a dozen high-level Quasi-Legendary puppets to block his path.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet those high-level puppets, which could deal significant damage even to Legendary powerhouses, were like mantises trying to stop a carriage. They collapsed instantly. The assimilated souls residing within them regained clarity for a few seconds.
“Thank you for returning our freedom, Lord.”
The blurred souls bowed toward the great existence they could not see but could feel with absolute certainty, before being purified and vanishing into the warm Holy Light.
“Magician! Get over here! I can’t hold on much longer!”
The Puppeteer’s blurred silhouette flickered. Even though his true body wasn’t in the material realm, he had a premonition that this light, originating from the power of the Justice Divinity, could completely ignore planar barriers.
CRACK!
Just as he feared, after completely purifying the space, Green’s Holy Light tore through a spatial rift with lightning speed, preparing to leap from the material plane into the Shadow World where the Puppeteer hid.
Tap, tap, tap.
At this critical juncture, a graceful figure appeared out of thin air beside the Puppeteer.
“Magician!” The Puppeteer’s face lit up with joy.
“To think the material plane still hid a powerhouse of this caliber?”
Ignoring the Puppeteer’s undignified state, the Magician raised her hands with extreme solemnity. She began to chant in a strange, rhythmic tone using an ancient language long forgotten by the material world.
“Great Lord of the End, descend upon this mortal world!”
The Lord of the End?
Back on the wasteland, Green’s face showed a flash of realization. An image appeared in his mind: the End Witch, the one who had hidden behind the scenes in the second simulation and deceived the High Priest of the first Church of Light.
“So it really is you.”
After Green’s self-sacrifice in the previous life, the End had vanished without a trace. But as a source of contamination from beyond the stars, she wouldn’t fall so easily.
BOOM!
Just as Green’s Holy Light was about to swallow the Magician, a blood-red radiance erupted from her body, forming a barrier.
Sizzle—
The two majestic forces collided, causing the surrounding material space to collapse with a roar, as astral winds swept through everything in sight.
Pop.
The vision cut off.
“Tch. I was so close to completely purifying that Puppeteer’s soul.” Green curled his lip. “But that female Magician…” A trace of wariness flashed in his eyes.
From that brief exchange, Green had deduced a great deal of information.
“If I’m not mistaken, those people have, to some extent, mastered the method of utilizing the contamination from beyond the stars.”
Knowing exactly how terrifying that power was, a shadow loomed in Green’s heart. As expected, the third simulation task was not simple. For them to act so brazenly in the capital, it was clear that the upper echelons of the Empire had already been corrupted.
In that case…
Looking at the Seventh Princess, who was currently staring at him with deep concern, Green made a decision. He had to help Theresa ascend the throne. Not just to complete the task, but for the sake of all living beings—just as the Princess herself had once aspired to do.
“Mr. Green, are you alright?”
Although the clash just now felt like it lasted a long time, it was actually only a few minutes. Green blinked and gave a casual yawn.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just checking on some intelligence.” Green smiled and patted the Princess’s shoulder.
Theresa let out a sigh of relief and lowered her imperial sword.
“But, Mr. Green…” Looking at the field of Barbarian corpses, she whispered in disbelief, “We really won.”
“That’s all because of you, Your Highness,” Green said approvingly. “Because you used yourself as bait, we achieved this brilliant victory today.”
Theresa fell silent for a moment. Hmph, liar. From start to finish, it was clearly your doing, Mr. Green. Whether it was the initial planning, stabilizing morale, enforcing discipline, or helping me gain command…
“Your Highness.” Seeing through her thoughts, Green explained, “Please do not underestimate your own role. If you don’t believe me, look.”
Following Green’s gaze, Theresa looked up.
Toot—toot—
“Victory! We’ve won!”
Amidst the loud blare of horns, the ambush party led by Wren returned in triumph. All the imperial soldiers were covered in blood and gasping for breath, yet none of them looked tired. Their faces held only deep joy and excitement.
Years of contempt from corrupt superiors, the guilt of being unable to protect the people, and the humiliation of bowing to the barbarians and paying tribute—all of it vanished in this moment of sheer exhilaration.
“Your Highness.” Colonel Wren, leading the group back with a vast amount of supplies and spoils, looked at the Princess—the commander he had once dismissed as a mere “flower vase.”
“The Eighth Company has completed its mission,” Wren summarized in a booming voice. “In this battle, we have decapitated thousands, captured hundreds, and eliminated one enemy king, one heir, and several Great Chieftains.”
At this, Wren looked at Theresa with emotion. “This is all thanks to you.”
“Me?” Theresa looked at Green, embarrassed. “But, Mr. Green was clearly the one who…”
“But if it weren’t for you, Mr. Green would not have appeared here, would he?” Wren gave Green a meaningful look.
Understanding his intent, Green nodded and chimed in with a smile, “Indeed, Your Highness. If it weren’t for your presence, and if it weren’t for the sake of realizing a dream, I would not have appeared in this backwater wasteland.”
Green wasn’t lying. While eliminating the contamination was his own goal, he wouldn’t have been interested in the succession struggle, let alone appearing at the border, if it weren’t for the simulation task.
“I understand,” Theresa nodded solemnly. “Rest assured, Mr. Green. Your dream—everyone’s ideal—I will be the one to realize it!”
“A dream, huh…” Wren looked at the few scarred, hollow-eyed women who had just been rescued. “My original ideal was to fulfill the glorious mission of an imperial soldier. Thanks to you, I have finally resumed that duty… to protect the people.”
Looking at those women, Theresa’s excitement from the victory suddenly plummeted. She walked slowly over to them and knelt on one knee.
“Princess?!” “Commander, you mustn’t!” Wren and the other soldiers were shocked and tried to stop her.
“No.” Theresa ignored the protests. She reached out with absolute sincerity and pulled one of the women into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes turning red. “I’m sorry we came so late. But we have finally avenged you.”
“Ugh… waaaaaah! Aaaaaah!”
The woman, whose face had been frozen and silent, first softened. A flash of confusion crossed her eyes, and then, in Theresa’s gentle voice, she seemed to find a release and began to wail with heartbreaking grief. In an instant, the sound of weeping drifted across the wasteland.
“This is just one border. At this very moment, how many similar tragedies are happening throughout the Empire?”
Thinking of the Puppeteer and the female Magician who had repeatedly seduced her father, Theresa gritted her teeth and drew her imperial sword with a Clang.
“My fellow soldiers, as long as I, Princess Theresa, live, I will not allow such tragedies to occur in this Empire again.”
She looked at the death squad members—men who had narrowly escaped death, men who had committed many crimes but were moved in this moment. Theresa said coldly, “Some of you were once part of the corruption, letting yourselves fall. But that was not your fault. The fault lies with the powerful figures at the source of corruption in the Capital. And I shall use this sword to change all of it!”
Princess Theresa made her vow.
“But before that,” her tone shifted back to one of ease and joy, “let us head back to report the good news to Vice-Commander Martin and celebrate our victory. All soldiers who have performed deeds of merit shall be rewarded!”
The moment she finished, a tsunami of cheers echoed to the heavens.
“Long live Her Highness!” “Long live the Supreme Commander! Old man Martin will definitely let us loose this time!” “Do you think we’ll get medals?” “Medals? With this outcome, even a Knighthood or a title of nobility wouldn’t be surprising!”
Amidst the laughter and joy, Theresa looked toward the fortress in the distance with relief. Teacher Martin, you will surely be proud of me.
Fortress of the Unyielding Bastion.
“Ha! Vice-Commander Martin, I am going to report you to the Governor!” A pot-bellied man in ornate clothing roared. “To execute a dignified quartermaster without a trial? Absurd! Ridiculous!”
“As the chairman of the Town’s Tax-Farming Guild, I will certainly report this to the Council. Isn’t that right, Mr. Sheriff?” The man looked at the person beside him in a sheriff’s uniform.
“My son… is he really dead?” The middle-aged man in the top hat seemed unable to believe it. “Fine, fine! Vice-Commander Martin, since you are so heartless, don’t blame me for being ruthless. You don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you have a ‘flower vase’ princess backing you up, do you?”
“Who do you think has been helping you hide the truth of the fortress from the representatives above all this time?” the Sheriff said furiously. “I am going to the Municipal Officer right now and have him notify the Second Prince!”
Facing the two power players of the town, Martin could only remain silent, rubbing the communication crystal in his hand that remained unconnected due to interference.
“Princess Theresa,” Martin sighed softly. “May the God of Light bless you. You must stay safe.”