Chapter 290.

[England, Buckingham Palace]

Buckingham Palace’s most famous guest, Ah Hae-in, was currently staring at the outside scenery through the palace’s window . She looked like her usual calm self, but something about her was a little different .

That was the number of stars inscribed on her robe, which now numbered a glorious nine .

Last week, she was promoted to a 9-star magician . Her ability to summon three of the Four Cardinal Guardians had allowed her this honor .

The 9-star realm had only been achieved by thirty people through history . As such, Ah Hae-In felt that the world looked a bit different today . She immersed herself in England’s beauty in deep thought .

Tak, tak .

At that moment, a certain child skipped over to Ah Hae-In . Evandel glanced up at Ah Hae-In curiously, then imitated her solemn expression .

The two magicians stood side-by-side and stared out the window .

Rachel, who brought Evandel here, smiled and tried hard to hold back her laughter .

“…Congratulations on your protion, Master . ” Evandel spoke .

“It’s promotion, not portion . Also, you don’t need to congratulate me . You will become one too soon enough . ”

“Eeh? Me too?”

Evandel’s eyes widened .

Ah Hae-In smiled gently .

“…Yes, you’re already at the 8-star level . ”

The quality of Evandel’s summons were equal to those summoned by an 8-star magician . But the sheer number of her summons easily put her at the 9-star realm .

It wouldn’t be long until the quality of her summons would reach the 9-star realm . With enough time, the 10-star realm wouldn’t be out of reach either .

“Ah, thank you . ”

Evandel bowed . Having watched Evandel’s growth, Ah Hae-In couldn’t help but find her adorable . But she was worried as well .

The outside world was dark .

It was cruel and full of schemers .

Ah Hae-In wondered if such an innocent child could endure such a place .

“…Evandel . ”

“Yeees?”

But the flow of time couldn’t be defied .

Even the clearest water would muddy as time passes, and a generational shift was inevitable .

A time would come when Evandel would have to reveal her overwhelming power to the world, and when that time came, countless adults would try to use her to their benefits .

“It’s time for training . ”

Ah Hae-In decided to prepare Evandel for that inevitable day .

“Traiwing…?”

Evandel spoke nervously, but her pronunciations were a bit off due to her missing front teeth .

“Yep . ”

Ah Hae-In smiled .

“Evandel, it’s time to create your domain . ”

To protect, one had to get stronger . Connections and fortune weren’t enough . One needed absolute strength that would let them tower over all adversaries .

“…Domain?”

Evandel tilted her head .

“Yes, domain . ”

Most magicians possessed their own ‘workshop’ no matter how weak they were . A workshop was a fortress of sorts where they could develop their magic and keep outsiders away .

As magicians’ research happened inside their workshop, they frequently had to fight to fend off intruders who wanted access . Ah Hae-In had also experienced countless battles before arriving at the 8-star realm .

But a workshop wasn’t enough for Evandel .

Although the higher-level concept of a workshop was a ‘stronghold’, even that wasn’t enough to hold Evandel’s talents .

A concept above a ‘stronghold’ that no magician, not even Ah Hae-In or the Nine Stars’ Oh Jaejin, could achieve . That was a ‘domain’ .

“It’s going to take a long time, and you won’t be able to meet anyone during it . ”

Evandel had the talent to create and maintain a ‘domain’ . But because this technique placed one’s surroundings under their command, one needed to stay in that place alone for a long time .

“It will be lonely and tiring . But this domain will be of great help to you . ”

The strength to survive even if the world falls . The power to act as one wished without being used by anyone .

Ah Hae-In wanted Evandel to develop autonomy .

“…Are you ready?”

With these words, Ah Hae-In slowly turned around . Rachel was staring at her with a worried face .

Rachel’s worry was justified, as a harsh process was necessary for a magician to obtain a domain . One needed to stay in a place for a long time and inscribe their will with magic power . The process could take anywhere from 6 months to 10 years .

But Ah Hae-In smiled .

“Don’t worry, Evandel is a stronger kid than you think . ”

She looked down at Evandel who was deep in thought .

The image of Fenrir, who was whimpering in pain from Toji’s attack, surfaced in her mind . Although he was now fully healed, Evandel was deeply hurt . It was the first time she felt powerless . If she was stronger, neither Fenrir nor her other summons would have been hurt .

“… . ”

Evandel raised her head .

Her eyes were filled with firm determination .

“I want to get stronger . ”

“Good…”

“B-But before then…”

Evandel stuttured .

“…I, I want to see Hajin . ”

**

[Africa, mid-rank village Lupiton]

The sun set, and darkness descended on the village . Human residents had all returned to their homes as they curfew was up .

In other words, it was time for us to invade the lord’s residence .

“Get ready . ”

Jain and I prepared ourselves at Boss’ command .

Boss would infiltrate the lord’s residence as a shadow, I would use [Pinnacle-rank Instant Acceleration] to burst in, and Jain would disguise herself as a humanoid monster to enter through the front door .

“We’re ready . ”

Just as we were ready to start our plan…

—Tiriring .

I received a video call on my smartwatch .

“Oh? It’s Evandel . ”

I planned to ignore it if it was Kim Suho or Yoo Yeonha, but Evandel was a different story . I asked Boss for some time and picked up the call .

—Hajin~

Evandel’s smiling face immediately came into view .

“Yeah, what’s up?”

I smiled back .

Evandel giggled and spoke .

—I wanted to see you~

“Suddenly? What happened?”

I’ve been calling or texting at least once a day, and before coming to Africa, I often visited her with Spartan .

—No reason~

“…Did something happen?”

I noticed a heavy atmosphere from Evandel’s expression .

—Mm… well…

Evandel hesitated for a moment before dropping her head .

—I don’t think I’ll be able to see you for a long time .

My heart sank when I heard those words .

It was the first time I’ve been so flustered in the past year .

I quickly asked back .

“W-Why?”

—Ah… um… I decided to create a domain with Master… .

“Domain? …Ah . ”

Thankfully, it wasn’t anything life threatening . I quickly understood what she meant .

A magician’s domain .

Just like Evandel did in the original novel, she was trying to create a domain of her own .

—Yes, so I won’t be able to see you . I hear the power of the domain will lessen if someone enters it during its construction .

“Don’t worry about that . We can meet whenever . ”

The basis of my [Black Lotus Uniform]’s presence-isolation effect was naturalness . Not only did it erase its wearer’s presence, but it also erased all trace of the wearer’s existence . Since not even Chae Nayun’s supernatural intuition could see through it, it shouldn’t affect Evandel’s domain either .

—Eeeh?

Evandel tilted her head .

“Don’t worry about not being able to see me and work hard at creating your domain . Make it pretty and hard . I’ll come by often . ”

—…Really?

Evandel looked surprised, which was unsurprising considering how difficult it must have been for her to make this decision .

—Really, really?

“Of course . Have I ever lied to you? Listen to Master Ah Hae-In and work hard . I’ll go see you next week . ”

—…Un! Okay!

Evandel smiled brightly and nodded .

“I’m a bit busy . I’ll call you when I’m done . ”

—Okay!

Evandel’s lively voice refreshed my ears .

“So cute . ”

I smiled and hung up the call .

Boss and Jain’s gazes were a bit bothersome, but I ignored them with a cough .

“Kuhum, alright, let’s go . ”

“…You sure are close to her . ”

Boss’ voice carried a little bit of jealousy .

“She’s a kid . ”

“…Anyways, let’s get going . ”

**

10 minutes later .

I entered the residence first and the shadowfied Boss entered after me . Since Jain would walk in casually at a later point, the two of us made our move first .

“Should we kill her or imprison her?”

“We don’t need to kill her since it might alert someone . We’ll imprison as planned . ”

“Got it . ”

I took out two 8-star cards, [Isolated Prison] and [Soundless Space] .

===

[Isolated Prison] [8-star]＊Effective Good＊

—Imprisons a target in an isolated space .

—The imprisoned target will be separated from the rest of the world and will maintain the physical condition before being imprisoned .

—The target can destroy the prison and escape .

===

===

[Isolated Prison] [7-star]＊Effective Good＊

—When activated, all sound within a 1km radius will be annihilated .

—This card can be destroyed by an impact above a certain level .

===

[Soundless Space] was a bit more direct, but [Isolated Prison] was a bit more complicated because of its unique imprisoning mechanism .

—The imprisoned target will maintain the physical condition before being imprisoned .

In other words, if a target was placed inside the prison with a fatal injury, the injury wouldn’t heal or worsen during the time the target is imprisoned . So we just had to beat up Pleron and trap her inside .

“Let’s go . ”

We moved soundlessly thanks to the [Soundless Space] card .

Pleron was sleeping in her bedroom at the top of the lord’s residence, and I easily maneuvered through any traps using my eyes .

“… . ”

After arriving close to the bedroom door, we hid behind the wall . Two guards were keeping watch . Boss and I exchanged glances and quickly made our moves .

I shot five arrows, piercing the eyes, heart, head, leg of the guard on the left .

Boss handled the right guard, slicing up his bodies with her shadow blade .

I immediately activated the 8-star card, [Isolated Prison], trapping the two guards before they could mutter a single sound .

“…Hi~”

Jain appeared at the perfect time, disguised a humanoid monster . The three of us then went into Pleron’s bedroom .

Pleron was sleeping on her large bed . Jain carefully approached her and touched me .

“Perfect . ”

“…?”

Hearing her voice, Pleron woke up . The first thing she saw was someone who looked just like her . It was, of course, the disguised Jain .

“…Pieek! Who are you!”

Pleron exclaimed . Her magic power shot out and cooled the surrounding temperature . Boss quickly sliced Pleron’s wings with ‘Kurukuru’s Scythe’ .

“Pieeek!”

Pleron screamed but [Soundless Space] prevented her voice from leaking out . Everything was going according to plans .

“Pieeeek!”

Boss dealt a fatal injury to Pleron, and I activated [Isolated Prison] once again .

With this, Pleron was sucked into the prison, leaving behind no trace of her existence .

It was then .

‘Bullet Time’ forcefully activated .

“…?”

The world suddenly slowed down . I could feel the movement of the air around me .

I rolled my eyes and checked for any signs of danger . It didn’t take long for me to see a current of magic power slowly descended from the ceiling .

A ‘magic power explosion’ .

It wasn’t a normal explosion . This powerful explosion caused by unnaturally condensed magic power exploding was something neither me, Boss, nor Jain could easily endure .

I quickly tried to activate [Time Reversal] .

But at that moment, a strange phenomenon entered my eyes .

“What… . ”

A golden current erupted with the magic power explosion . I knew very well what this phenomenon was .

‘Narrow Escape from Death’ . My luck was guiding me to this explosion, telling me not to use Time Reversal .

[Narrow Escape from Death (6/9) – special stat, accumulation of luck, becomes partly unlocked!]

[It’s a momentary misfortune for the ideal ending . ]

The moment I read the alert, I threw myself into the center of the golden current .

“Hajin…”

Boss tried to grab me .

Boom—!

But an explosion erupted .

I blacked out .

**

…Tk, tk, tk .

The sound of a campfire rang out .

“Ah… . ”

Boss regained consciousness after blacking out momentarily .

A strange scene was reflected before her eyes .

“…Hey, Byul . ”

The man she had been looking to kill for years, Bell, was now in front of her .

He was holding Kim Hajin over his shoulders .

Blood quickly rushed to Boss’ head .

“Be…”

“You won’t be able to move or talk . I made that explosion from a part of my body . Even you will be incapacitated for 30 minutes . You should know how strong I am, right?”

Bell smiled bitterly as he said that .

“Anyhow, I’m touched . He tried to protect you guys . ”

Bell glanced at Kim Hajin, who was sprawled over his shoulders .

The moment he ignited his magic power, Kim Hajin reacted earlier than anyone else and threw himself forward . He was undoubtedly trying to protect Byul .

And thanks to Kim Hajin’s sacrifice, Byul and Jain only ended up being paralyzed .

“I’m tearing up . ”

“…Bell . ”

Boss growled and glared at Bell .

Blood flowed from her eyes as she barely managed to eek out his name .

She clenched her teeth and emitted deep-rooted rage and killing intent .

“I’ll take Kim Hajin with me . There’s a lot I need to discuss with him . ”

Bell was as leisurely as ever .

“Be…ll… . ”

Boss reached forward . Her vision was dyed red, but she didn’t give up . She commanded her limbs with all her effort, ‘Move, move, move…!’

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him . I don’t plan to either . ”

“Let him… . ”

By the time her hand touched the ground after tremendous effort, Bell had already turned his back on her .

At the same time, humanoid monsters who noticed the commotion flooded in .

“You won’t be able to stay with him forever anyways . ”

Boss moved her legs as Bell continued talking . She stepped forward with her broken ankle and forced her broken knees to stand .

Like a wooden puppet, she staggered up in a strange pose .

“…Let him go . ”

Boss spoke . But that was all she could say . Bell looked back at her eyes and gave a faint smile .

“Sorry this happened again . ”

With that Bell jumped down from the mansion . Boss tried to follow him, but her body refused to move . After taking Bell’s attack head-on, her body was screaming to get rest .

“Keruk! What happened!? Keruk! Who are you!?”

Plus, humanoid monsters had already arrived . Boss continued to glare at the direction Bell disappeared to…

Thud—!

Then, she collapsed .

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