Regarding this matter, Marvin didn't hesitate at all.

He chose to reject it.

First of all, he and Daniela were related by blood, as she was his younger cousin. Although it was frequent to marry between cousins in Sorcerer clans, this was something that Marvin couldn't accept since he came from Earth. Also, Marvin felt that he and Daniela weren't that intimate. At most, the two admired each other. In the beginning, Daniela even looked down on Marvin, and it was only after she saw Marvin's accomplishments that her opinion of him rose greatly.

As for romance, there was none.

The Great Duke brought this topic up since he had intended for the two to marry.

But Marvin couldn't accede to this.

In fact, there was a more important third point.

Marvin had already held Daniela back in White River Valley for so long, which hadn't let her talents blossom. He didn't want her talent to be buried because of him.

Her strength didn't rise at all during her time in White River Valley.

Although this was partially related to the Sorcerer class, staying with Marvin had also delayed her.

The future Ice Empress shouldn't be confined to White River Valley.

...

The Great Duke didn't seem surprised by Marvin's choice.

He had some connections to Shadow Thief Owl, so knowing some inside information was very normal.

But there was still a hint of sadness in his eyes.

In his opinion, Daniela's bloodline was very outstanding, and although Marvin's bloodline was thin, he was still his younger brother's descendant!

Diross was called the man "closest to God" by the elders when he was only ten years old!

His descendants naturally would have endless potential.

But since Marvin didn't want to, Daniela herself wouldn't be willing to keep acting as Marvin's fiancée. It was originally only a makeshift stratagem for getting Ancestor's Mystery. With Marvin cooperating, Daniela didn't have to sacrifice herself.

Under such circumstances, the Great Duke also chose to give up.

Both sides began to discuss the matter of cooperation.

At this time, Shadow Thief Owl took the initiative to leave. This concerned the deepest secrets of the Cridland Clan after all.

...

Inside the warm room, a blue package was put on a cedarwood table.

At that split second, the temperature of the entire room dropped.

"You really brought it back."

The Great Duke felt moved.

Marvin nodded, but he was still very cautious.

After advancing to Ruler of the Night, he had re-entered White River Valley's secret passage and pushed aside the boulder to the secret room where the Archdevil's head was sealed.

After a careful inspection, Marvin found out that without Ancestor's Mystery, people simply wouldn't be able to resist the enticement of the Archdevil's head.

He also kept hearing the head's mutters on the way, which annoyed him greatly.

Thinking that his grandfather might have been assimilated by the Archdevil Overlord, Marvin's mood worsened.

Devils were really frightening lifeforms. Anyone in contact with them would have to be very careful.

"This layer covered with Ancestor's Mystery is the final seal and cannot be opened," Marvin reminded.

The Great Duke nodded, he took a deep breath and his eyes recovered to a peaceful expression.

Marvin was inwardly shocked. The Great Duke's strength apparently exceeded what he had imagined. His willpower was very high!

It had to be known that he didn't have Ancestor's Mystery, Vanessa's Gift, and the Spirit Armband to raise his Charm Resistance.

This old man was completely resisting the Archdevil's enticement with his own willpower.

This power proved that the Great Duke was definitely at the peak of the world.

"Let's go to the [Black Room]."

The Great Duke stood up and hinted Marvin to pick up the package. Although he could resist the Archdevil's enticement, getting in contact with the head was something else.

Currently in Feinan, only Marvin, who possessed the Ancestor's Mystery, could suppress the head.

"We will speak about the other matters on the way."

...

The so-called Black Room was an abandoned laboratory in the depths of the castle.

This laboratory was the origin of Lavis Dukedom!

The original Cridland clan extracted the Archdevil's power there and obtained the bloodline inheritance.

In this room, there was an ancient alchemy array that could automatically collect the Archdevil's Divine Source.

That's right, it was Divine Source!

The original Devil was a Fallen Angel. Angels from ancient times were different from the current Angels in the God Realms. They were existences as powerful as Ancient Gods and Ancient Elements.

They were part of Ancient Gods.

Later on, because of some particular events, part of the Ancient Angels turned evil and founded the Nine Hells, becoming the Archdevils.

The matters of those years had long passed and couldn't be checked anymore.

Only one thing was certain: the Archdevils had Divine Source in their bodies.

But most of this Divine Source was extremely evil.

This was also one of the reasons Sorcerers were considered as evil in the eyes of others. After all, the Numan Sorcerers gained their power from an Archdevil.

The Fiend Sorcerers were even more of a symbol of chaotic evil, while the Dragon Sorcerers were too rare and not particularly powerful, and thus had no representation.

...

Lavis Dukedom had been able to keep standing in the North for all this time, and it was related to the constant inheritance of their Numan bloodline.

Almost every Cridland Patriarch was a powerful Legend Sorcerer.

But in this generation, a gap appeared in the Cridland family.

The Divine Source they had stored had been used up. And in the new generation, although there was the frighteningly talented Daniela, there was no Divine Source left, so they were unable to break the boundary of the Legend Realm.

Thus, the Archdevil's head was very important to them.

"Forgive me for asking, but if the Divine Source was used up, then the Cridland clan should have made preparations a long time ago."

Marvin doubtfully asked the Great Duke, "Why does it seem so sudden?"

The Great Duke had a helpless expression.

He hesitated before revealing the truth to Marvin.

In fact, the Cridland clan originally had enough Divine Source stored for more than ten gifted people to use.

Thus, the Great Duke had turned a blind eye when Diross stole the Archdevil's Head.

But a year earlier, their treasury was plundered!

The other things were mostly untouched. Only the Divine Source was cleanly snatched away!

This matter created a great shock in the Cridland clan, and many people believed that it was a traitor's doing!

The Great Duke was furious and ordered people to find the robber.

But the outcome didn't follow their expectations.

A year had passed and the Divine Source seemed to have completely disappeared. There wasn't a bit of information.

Even with the Great Duke's outstanding Magic Power, he couldn't find a single clue of who the robber was.

This created a predicament for Lavis Dukedom.

In fact, the one who suffered the biggest loss was Turalyon.

He had already been a Half-Legend Sorcerer. As long as he used some of the Divine Source, he would be able to awaken his bloodline power and become a Legend Sorcerer.

But at that crucial time, there was no Divine Source.

This gave Daniela a chance to catch up.

In short, the competition of the younger generation was only between the two of them.

But what was embarrassing was since the Divine Source was gone, their competition had no meaning.

Thus, after the news of Marvin and White River Valley, the Great Duke knew that he couldn't ignore the Archdevil's head anymore.

He decided to have Daniela retrieve the Archdevil's head. At the same time, she would be betrothed to Marvin. And the older Turalyon would become Lavis' heir.

After all, he was older and more stable. He had finesse and didn't lack the appearance of a Lord.

But it was a pity that the plan kept changing. Lavis' people didn't cause trouble for Marvin because the Great Duke himself kept them under control.

And now, both sides agreed to cooperate.

The terms of the cooperation were very simple. Marvin supplied the Archdevil's head, while Lavis supplied the Black Room.

The Divine Source extracted would be split evenly.

Marvin had no complaint toward this agreement.

The Archdevil's head would produce three drops of Divine Source each month. The Great Duke sincerely requested that Lavis Dukedom get two the first month.

And the two drops of Divine Source would be used today.

Because the Great Duke decided that the successor of Lavis Dukedom would be decided today!

...

Marvin and the Great Duke stayed in the laboratory in the depths of the ancient castle for most of the afternoon.

This was considered a forbidden area of the Dukedom, and besides these two, no one could enter.

The Great Duke started the refining array alone, and Marvin put the Archdevil's head in.

Under the effects of the ancient array, three drops of Divine Source were forcibly extracted from the blue package.

Two of them were carefully collected by the Great Duke. Another drop went to Marvin.

Marvin originally didn't have a receptacle to keep Divine Source, but there were many such things in Lavis.

He was gifted a small porcelain bottle by the Great Duke which could hold about thirty drops of Divine Source.

Back when he didn't have something to hold it, he had simply let the Book of Nalu swallow the Divine Source. It was simply a waste of resources.

'Book of Nalu?'

Thinking of this, Marvin had a sudden flash of insight. 'Hold on… Stealing Divine Source…'

He suddenly told the Great Duke, "I think I might know who stole the Divine Source in the Cridland clan's treasury!"

The Great Duke was stunned.

Marvin immediately laughed lightly. "I have no evidence at the moment, but I have a rough idea."

"Let's wait until tonight's matter has ended. I'll go rest first."

After saying this, he saluted the Great Duke with the etiquette of someone of a younger generation and suitably left the Great Duke's castle.

There would be a good show tonight.

...

Snowflakes were fluttering in the air.

The flames were ceaselessly blazing on the snowy mountain.

Today was Lavis Dukedom's [Winter Resting Day], which was a celebratory holiday.

But compared with the shocking matter that came out of the castle that afternoon, the Winter Resting Day celebration wasn't even worth mentioning:

[Turalyon and Daniela are the two heirs of Lavis Dukedom and will hold an advancement ritual tonight! The one successfully advancing to Legend will become the Lord of Lavis Dukedom!]