After entering the city, they had encountered Irene—and everything had gone wrong from there.
Irene had become unbelievably powerful. The four of them hadn’t even had a chance to fight back.
It was a complete and utter rout. Even without Irene’s ambush, Serena didn’t think she would have stood a chance against that “Irene.”
“Irene, who are you talking about?”
The girl with white hair and golden eyes, dressed in a resplendent mage’s robe, looked at Serena with clear confusion. Her eyes were devoid of light—emotionless.
“Then who are you?”
“Who am I? You really don’t know? Do you even realize whose domain you’ve barged into, my lady?”
Serena’s eyes froze from the sudden wave of fear crashing over her. The emotion on her face screamed a silent, “Impossible.”
A twisted smile curled at “Irene’s” lips. Her fingers tightened abruptly—
“Serena! Serena! What are you spacing out for?! Start attacking already! I can’t output enough firepower on my own!”
That voice—Paluma?
The illusion vanished in an instant. Serena’s vision cleared again. In front of her was a massive beholder, its tentacles whipping wildly, her teammates locked in combat.
Only then did Serena realize what had happened. She had accidentally made eye contact with the monster—she’d been caught in its illusion.
‘An illusion… Of course. There’s no way Irene could be that strong. She’s practically famous for being bottom-tier in combat.’
But that illusion kept replaying in Serena’s mind, relentlessly magnifying the fear she’d hidden deep inside.
In truth, even the first time she’d visited this city of Endymion, she’d felt something strange.
Now that she had returned, that feeling of déjà vu only grew stronger.
*****
“Sis, what are you dazing off for? Today’s your coronation!”
A bright and energetic voice echoed beside her ear.
Irene slowly opened her eyes—and was stunned by the scene before her.
This was a palace so opulent it was almost grotesque.
A gilded throne floated atop a staircase of elemental energy. Above, a celestial dome shimmered with stars like a night sky in motion.
Fragments of time flickered with ominous red omens. Crystal vines split open along shadowed walls, leaking pitch-black darkness that seeped into the projected crown.
A crimson carpet inlaid with golden patterns stretched out to the horizon, flanked on both sides by rows upon rows of armored knights standing at attention.
Where… am I? Why am I in a place like this?
And someone just called me “Sister”?
Irene turned toward the source of the voice—and her mind blanked out entirely.
Silver-white hair flowed like a radiant galaxy. Her golden eyes sparkled with warmth and brilliance. Every expression on that face looked painfully familiar.
Because it was her own face.
The vision ended there. Irene opened her eyes to see a pair of heterochromatic pupils—familiar and worried—gazing down at her.
“Irene, you’re awake! You scared me just now. I thought you were hurt!”
As her senses gradually returned, Irene noticed something was off. Her body felt oddly chilly. When she looked down, she saw her own soft, snow-white breasts pressed together with Lilisah’s, forming an alluring shape.
She wasn’t the only one unclothed—Lilisah, who was lying on top of her, wasn’t wearing a stitch either.
The sight overloaded Irene’s brain.
Her cheeks flushed bright red, and she blurted out instinctively, “Lilisah, what are you doing?”
Could it be… she had those kinds of interests too? Sure, Irene was a girl herself, but Lilisah was being so direct, so bold—Irene definitely wasn’t mentally prepared for that!
Lilisah looked perfectly calm, her expression guileless and clear. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing,’ Miss Irene? I just finished giving you a bath and was drying you off.”
“You were filthy, Irene. I couldn’t just leave you like that. It was driving me crazy.”
So that’s what it was… Irene had jumped to conclusions.
She failed to notice, however, that Lilisah’s eyes darted away slightly as she spoke, guilt practically written all over her face.
The innocent doll-like girl was not exactly skilled at lying. Her story was full of holes.
And the faint blush coloring her cheeks only made her look more enchanting.
“Okay, Irene, open your legs a little. I haven’t finished drying this part yet.”
Irene flushed even redder and turned her head to the side. “Don’t say things that could be misunderstood!”
“Hm? What’s there to misunderstand, Irene?”
Those eyes—so clear it was like staring into a calm lake—left Irene completely speechless.
She must’ve overthought it. She must have!
“This is the residential district, right?”
Irene turned to the window. In the far distance, the white tower was just barely visible.
“Yes, it’s within the residential zone,” Lilisah nodded. “You said this was the only safe place to rest inside the city, so I carried you here.”
She retrieved two sets of clothes from a cabinet inside the room and handed one to Irene.
“It’s so strange… This city is supposed to be from over a thousand years ago, but the buildings and streets haven’t aged at all. Everything looks brand new, like it was built yesterday.”
“That’s why there’s a saying…” Irene cleared her throat, trying to recall the details.
“The Holy King’s power was so immense that not even the gods could destroy it. In the end, they sealed her and her ambitions inside this city. This place is where even time itself no longer flows.”
Lilisah responded softly, giving a small nod. “Still, it’s odd. The entire city looks untouched—there are no signs of damage anywhere. But there’s not a single resident in sight.”
“Well, it’s been a thousand years. Even if some residents survived, there’s no way they’d still be alive now, right?”
Lilisah raised an objection.
“But Irene, you just said it yourself—this is a place where even time no longer flows. If time doesn’t pass, then where did the residents go? Have you seen any of their remains anywhere?”
“Huh?”
That angle of thinking had never occurred to Irene. After dressing, she sat at the edge of the bed and began contemplating other possibilities.
Right, it was far too strange. The buildings and streets remained exactly as they had a thousand years ago—even the clothes looked brand new, as if just purchased yesterday. But why, of all things, was there not a single resident to be seen?
Something wasn’t right.
The only things they’d encountered inside the city were various magical creatures… It couldn’t be that…
And why had Lord Kadain, one of the legendary Seven Heroes, returned here at this particular time?
All of this definitely needed to be connected and considered together.
“Speaking of which, can we go back to what we were discussing earlier? You never told me what happened between you and Froya.”
Lilisah hesitated slightly before responding, “It’s nothing that serious. When Master awakened me, she used up all of her magic power. That’s the only reason things ended up like this.”
“No way!” Irene instinctively refuted her.
“Magic power isn’t a one-time-use resource. Even if you use it all, it naturally regenerates!”
“Huh?” Lilisah looked at her, eyes wide as if hearing this for the first time.
“That can’t be true, right?”
‘So Froya becoming powerless has nothing to do with Lilisah after all? In that case… Froya’s behavior becomes even more interesting.’
As Irene pondered this, the corner of her eye caught something near the window. Curious, she turned—and froze.
Even at night, the skies above Endymion were illuminated with the glow of magic, bright as day.
Outside the window stood a silver-haired girl in golden-embroidered robes, her golden eyes filled with indifference.
That face—there was no mistaking it. Irene saw it every day in the mirror when she got up and dressed.
It was her own face.
“Irene? What’s wrong?”
Ignoring Lilisah’s voice, Irene jumped off the bed and bolted for the door.
“Wait for me, Irene!”
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