The discussion between Marvin and Daniela lasted for no less than two hours.

When the door to the parlor finally opened, the maid waiting outside the room took a curious glance.

Daniela's complexion was terrible, and she even seemed to be having trouble smiling. Marvin, on the contrary, was completely calm.

"Your proposal, I'll consider it… Let me think about it," Daniela said.

Marvin shrugged.

He had already done something like that once, so he didn't have any issues with it.

He nodded as he responded, "You can notify me before it officially starts. I know it will be hard for you to make a firm decision about this, but sometimes, we have to force ourselves to make a choice."

"Okay, I'll go to the [Black Room]. A month has passed, after all."

Daniela nodded, and the two left the parlor to head into the depths of the castle.

Before the Great Duke disappeared, he gave Daniela all the castle's permissions to Daniela, and thus she was currently the only one in all of Lavis who could freely enter and exit every corner of the castle.

The Black Room was the place that Marvin and the Great Duke used to extract the Divine Source. It was also the core of the entire Cridland clan.

After entering the Black Room, he immediately took out Ancestor's Mystery as well as the Archdevil's head.

After doing everything exactly as the Great Duke had shown him, Marvin was also able to put the squeeze on the pitiful Archdevil.

In the evening, he walked out of the Black Room, feeling somewhat tired. However, excitement could be seen in his eyes.

He had successfully wrung out three drops of Divine Source!

Divine Source was very precious. Marvin's advanced Divine Vessel had been able to evolve successfully after he absorbed the Divine Source of the Wilderness God's avatar. Before that, the Divine Source he obtained had been given to the Book of Nalu. Now that he could use it himself, he wouldn't waste something so valuable on that strange book.

He injected the two drops of Divine Source into the advanced Divine Vessel. But it didn't seem to give any sort of reaction.

He checked his interface, and saw that the information on his Divine Vessel's cultivation was very clear:

[Advanced Divine Vessel (One advancement) (13% fusion)]

[Advancement requirement: Divine Source 2/10]

...

Seeing the numbers, Marvin couldn't help but sigh.

The advanced Divine Vessel was simply a bottomless pit. Wanting to cultivate that thing would be a huge consumption of resources!

He wasn't feeding it just any common stuff! This was Divine Source! There was no need to explain how precious Divine Source was. Marvin might not be able to get Divine Source every time he killed a Divine Servant.

In contrast, the Comprehension points, which he needed to level up as a Ruler of the Night, were a lot easier to get!

But he wasn't discouraged.

He knew that this was practically the only way to break through his bodily limitations.

After cultivating the advanced Divine Vessel by giving it enough Divine Source, the Divine Vessel would eventually upgrade far enough to cause a chain reaction. At that time, Marvin might be able to break through his body's limitations. Not only would his attributes break through the 30 point limit, but he would also obtain new and very useful abilities.

This was what the Fairy had told him.

Even though the Migratory Bird Council had offered another method to break through the limits, Marvin felt that relying on an Ultimate Shapechange to break through the body's limits wasn't reliable enough. Although turning into a Bronze Dragon like Sky Fury could admittedly give him a Bronze Dragon's attributes, overcoming the weakness of the Human body, it was still only a type of Shapechange, so he couldn't break the shackles of mankind and let him use his own abilities with the enhanced attributes.

People like Blade Master Kangen or the Cloud Monk strove to break through via the Martial Path, which was also another possible method, but Marvin didn't have enough time. In fact, he doubted whether he could ever fathom the most advanced levels of the Martial Path. Thus, despite the fact that he practiced his Desperation style, he didn't put much hope on that path.

'Among all these paths, the most suitable for me is definitely cultivating the Divine Vessel.'

'Divine Source might be very precious to others, but I can get 1 to 2 drops every month. In the future, there will likely be many conflicts between me and the Gods, so I'll make up the rest with the Divine Source from the Divine Servants.'

Marvin knew that he was walking on a path that opposed the Gods.

In the future, he wouldn't be the one exterminated. It would be the countless Apostles and Divine Servants.

This was a conflict of interests, ideals, and faith. No one could stop this from happening.

...

When he left the Black Room, Daniela was still deliberating.

He looked at the sky and smiled. "The meeting you talked about will soon begin."

Daniela sighed, "He is my older brother."

"Please give him a chance…"

Marvin nodded.

He then disappeared into the darkness.

As Daniela watched Marvin leave, the blank expression on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by toughness.

She returned to her study and began to handle the relevant government affairs.

As for tonight's meeting, she wouldn't participate.

Someone would go in her stead.

...

In a hidden cave of the snowy mountain.

Under the light of a candle, shadows were unsettled.

This was a secret meeting place of the Cridland clan and was also where the Elder Council held its meetings.

In Lavis' political system, the Elder Council was mostly used to place checks on the ruler's power.

The Cridland clan's Elder Council was mostly composed of old and influential men.

Unfortunately, the people of Lavis didn't know about the Elder Council. They only knew that Lavis' power was in the hands of the Great Duke!

This was because the Sorcerers valued power very highly.

The Great Duke had been incredibly powerful, to the point that the Elder Council couldn't restrict him at all and was only decoration.

During the Great Duke's time, every decision had been made by him alone. As a formality, he would let this group of elders give advice, but everyone knew that the Great Duke didn't let them interfere with his own decisions. They very discreetly retreated behind the scenes.

But now, times had changed.

Turalyon died, and the Great Duke disappeared.

The Elder Council, after being reminded by a certain ambitious person, suddenly discovered that they had some status now!

They couldn't restrict the power of the Great Duke before, but was there an issue if it was the young Daniela with her shallow foundations?

At Hubble's instigation, the Elder Council members became excited overnight.

They had a meeting and made a secret decision:

They would choose Hubble as the new Great Duke, as he was closer to the council's members. As for Daniela, she was a woman, after all. Moreover, she had a very good relationship with Hubble. They believed that even if she was unwilling, she wouldn't go against her older brother.

They also thought of a good way to comfort Daniela. They could just ask Hubble to arrange an empty position for her.

That woman was quite powerful, so it would be worth keeping her around.

In the depths of the cave, the six elders were sitting upright. There were a few other people standing to the side, including Hubble, who was wearing a long gown.

"Daniela still hasn't arrived? It's already time!"

An elder looked at the hourglass nearby and suddenly yelled, "That child doesn't understand rules at all!"

Hubble smiled faintly. "No need to worry, my younger sister might have been delayed by an official matter."

"Hmpf… The Great Duke didn't appoint an heir before he left," the elder spat resentfully. "What kind of matter could she be busy with now? Our clan's internal affairs have yet to be settled. She truly doesn't know what is good for her!"

"She and Turalyon were indeed the few heirs designated by the Great Duke, but now, whether it is the Elder Council or the many clans and officers inside the city, they support Hubble as the heir to the Great Duke. She was quite clever, taking advantage of the war regulations to take the Great Duke's position just after the fighting ended. It seems that she didn't put us in her eyes."

A few elders were whispering to each other, growing more dissatisfied as time passed.

Hubble smiled, seeming quite pleased with himself.

He understood Daniela. His younger sister was very clever and was also a talented person, but she had a fatal weakness: she trusted him too much.

The two were siblings, but Daniela had always been eye-catching since she was born, leaving him to only play a supportive role all the time.

Although he had been putting on a mask in front of her, Daniela never suspected him after all these years. Even when that poisoning happened seven years ago, Hubble had been a possible suspect, but Daniela directly refused to consider that he might be the culprit. Ultimately, that left Turalyon as the most likely perpetrator.

That matter had enraged the Great Duke, and Daniela was guarded even more tightly afterwards. Hubble didn't dare to try again, afraid that he might be discovered.

Over time, the envy in his heart festered and became ever more twisted.

He envied her gift... the two were obviously siblings, so why would there be such a huge gap?

He had the bloodline of the noble Blackpearl Python. His birth had drawn great admiration in the family.

But after the Ice Angel was born, he was immediately given the cold shoulder.

This disparity made him feel like collapsing.

Especially since after Turalyon revealed his Fallen Angel bloodline, he lost any chance of standing out in the future.

He could only retreat behind the scenes and keep playing the role of the gentle older brother.

It's just that he always worked in the dark, so that one day, if an opportunity appeared, he would be able to seize it.

It seemed that fate hadn't abandoned him!

'This is my opportunity!'

'Daniela definitely won't refuse my request! I'll have her become my aide. She is my younger sister, she should do this much!'

Hubble's eyes were full of his thirst for power.

Outside the hidden cave, gentle footsteps could be heard.

"You finally arrived, my dear younger sister…" Hubble happily welcomed.

But his smile suddenly froze.

"Why is it you?"

Marvin calmly entered the cave and sat on the chair, laughing as he looked at Hubble. "Of course it is me, my dear older brother 1 ."