“The Ancestor is on the move?!” Kanari’s heart nearly stopped as she received the news. “How did you manage to convince him to intervene?!”

Spirit Saints were all reserved individuals, hiding in their own abodes and protected by dozens of the country’s henchmen. Due to their immense power, the Spirit Saints hardly interfered with mortal affairs, and most of them spent their time cultivating in the hopes of being the next Spirit Immortal. For the Himmel Empire’s Ancestor… It was a far different case. The Spirit of Himmel was a cursed Spirit that completely locks a cultivator’s ability to advance into the Spirit Immortal realm. However, even though he couldn’t reach the coveted land of Immortals, the Himmel Ancestor was considered to be the most powerful Spirit Saint among the three superpowers.

Therefore, his actions were mostly kept in check by the other two superpowers. It was no exaggeration to claim that each time the Himmel Ancestor moves, the world would tremble in a mixture of fear and anticipation. For the Ancestor to travel deep into Kori Federation territory… Many stones must have been unturned.

“It’s a long story...” Isadore dropped his shoulders as he spun his spear. A fierce glint could be captured within his pupils as his inner body was swelling up. Isadore had charged his mana strengthening to the limits, bringing every muscle in his body to the peak of human strength. A cool mist flowed out from his mouth as blood vessels popped throughout his forehead. “We can go into details a little later… First, let us clear up this mess...”

“Yeah, I agree with Isadore!” Elrin cut into the conversation with her own high-pitched voice. “The reinforcements from the Himmel Empire are already dealing with the infected areas. Soon, more and more members of the Alliance would swarm in. Our job is to defeat the enemies here!”

The cutesy maiden murmured a few verses and the eternity symbol on her Rosary radiated with a mystical light. Mana flowed into Kanari’s soul, and twenty beads were split off from Elrin’s Spirit, giving the fatigued black-haired war maiden a much-needed boost.

“Sacramental Boost and False Armament…” Kanari glanced down at her wrists with nostalgia. “It really has been a while since we’ve fought like this.”

“Hey, you sure have grown much more talkative over the past three years! You still have the nerve to yap away when an enemy is aiming for your head!” Elrin scolded Kanari, who was absent-minded even in the heat of a battle.

“Haha, I guess you’re right...” The beauty chuckled. “I guess I really have been pampered… No matter… I’ll be sure to end this...”

Kanari quickly reverted back to her combat stance as the gorgeous pale-blue foxfires orbited around her slender body. The blood of the Kumiho was now riled up, as more and more mana was being pumped up her soul. Every single fibre of her body was now screaming out in pure euphoria, ready to unleash all sorts of chaos upon the battlefield.

“Ka… Na… Ri...” A blackened zombie walked on the other side of the field. Crimson blood was flowing down from his numerous cuts and bits of char remained on the Invincible Iron Body. The sweet scent of burning flesh was emitting out of the colossal man’s exterior, greatly repulsing anyone who came near to his very existence.

“Fred...” Kanari inhaled deeply as she witnessed the terrible state of the former genius. Just a few years ago, Fred was one of the most valuable talents in the entire Himmel Empire. Nobles from all over the country would pay good money just to get his signature. Even the Himmel Royalty was no exception. If he’d chosen the right path, Fred could have very well become a Royal Guard or even better, a General of the Himmel Army. Alas… Look at him now…

Fred’s body was shattered beyond belief. His Invincible Iron Body was on the verge of collapse and blood continued to drip down from the opened cuts. Fred didn’t cast many spiritual abilities, and his mana was about seventy percent full. However, no matter how much spiritual energy one had, if their vessel were broken, they would still be taking a one-way ticket to the Netherworld.

The seasoned cultivator had seen many injuries in her day, and Fred’s was by far one of the worst. Kanari estimates that in just a mere ten minutes, the fallen genius would fall once more. This time, into the pit of the abyss, never to awake ever again.

“Kanari,” Isadore called the woman, his eyes never leaving the limping body of the burnt man. “Do you want me to finish him?”

“No...” The maiden shook her head. Mana flowed from her Spectre Soul and onto all ten of her fingertips. The greenish sun took form on her right hand once more, and the illusion of the moon graced her left. Kanari took many steps forward, her eyes never leaving the frail body of the man near his death. “Fred’s my burden to carry… Let me be the one to send him off.”

From the start, there was no way that Fred, or the Black Masks that he’d brought, would have overwhelmed Kanari and her forces. Even if Fred were stronger than herself, which he was not, Thea would have leapt into the fray, protecting the Highgarden heiress from any form of danger.

However, that didn’t stop Fred from trying. His devotion… His love for that woman that could never be his… It hadn’t faded for a single second. Charles, the one person he trusted the most in the world, had long fled through the tunnels that the Black Masks had built. With his entire body burnt to a crisp and all his tendons ruptured by Isadore’s rapid attack… There was nothing left for the lovebird to do, but to accept his fate...

‘Why… Why...’ The burnt man reached his arms out, his vision mostly blurred by the heat and sweat that his body radiated. Everything was a patch of a blur to the man. The sounds of Umbras being slashed to bits, the soul-wrenching cries of the remaining Black Masks, the scent of his own flesh burning and the searing pain within his very soul. Everything was blurred out. However, there was one thing that was crystal clear to the man, even in his weakened state.

Kanari’s gorgeous visage crept ever closer, both her hands bringing forth endless amounts of dread and destruction. There was no love in Kanari’s eyes. She couldn’t even see the man as a human anymore. What Kanari saw… Was a pitiful walking corpse that was living on borrowed time.

‘Why… I did everything right...’

Fred continued to lament his fate. He truly loved Kanari, at least… that’s what he’d believed. So, Fred did everything in his power to become the best possible mate for the noble girl. He’d ensured that his body was chiselled, a tip that was imparted by the casanovas of the Captial. Being from the lower class, the man took various lessons on how to behave in High Society, including learning music, art, calligraphy, etiquette… He’d never meet with other women or even drank wine, fearing that Kanari would disdain debaucherous behaviour. Essentially, Fred had morphed himself into the perfect man, a Prince in shining armour that dazzled every young maiden’s dreams. And yet… Kanari hadn’t even spared the man a single glance.

Was it because Fred was from the lower class? No, if that’s the case, why did she fall in love with Shin, who had basically little to no background before entering the Lantis Republic? Or was it because of his face? The man had seen himself multiple times in the mirror and in his opinion, he was far more handsome than the snobby azure-eyed brat.

‘So… why? Why Kanari? WHY DID YOU NOT CHOOSE ME?!’

The zombie-man screamed inwardly. His vocal cords were far too burnt for sound to escape. The moistness in Fred’s eyes had long been evaporated as his entire vision was blurred out. With Fred’s face entirely burnt, no one could clearly see the distraught’s man expression. Still, Kanari could feel the tense emotions that had been bubbling up within Fred’s inner consciousness.

So… The right thing to do… Was to end the man’s misery...

“Fred Newton… Any last words?” Kanari stood five metres away from the broken body, ready to launch her ultimate attack one final time.

“W… W… Why...” Fred’s weak voice echoed throughout the broken battlefield. It was so soft that the flickering embers were loud enough to drown that voice. However, Kanari could hear the man… Quite clearly in fact. At that moment, she felt her heart tense up, as if someone had gotten a firm grip on her heart.

“Fred… I never hated you… However, I also never loved you...” Kanari replied, her eyes filled with sorrow. “I saw you as a senior at first, then a talented person that could one day help the Highgarden Duchy. I’ll admit, there was a voice inside me that kept asking me to keep you on the hook… Perhaps that’s why you’d always thought that you’d have a chance with me...”

The black-haired woman thought back to her teenage years. Back then, she was just an immature noble brat that saw everyone as tools to consolidate her power. That’s why she first approached Shin and Shizen in the first place. They were capable talents that could one day boost the Highgarden Duchy, and her story with Fred followed along the same lines. Kanari wanted to secure the general-calibre talent before the Young Drake Duke, her biggest competitor.

And well… Her tactic worked. Fred never entertained a single contract unless it was from the Highgarden Duchy and his demand for joining always remained consistent. Fred wanted Kanari’s hand in marriage… He wanted to obtain the unobtainable flower…

“I’m sorry, Fred… I was never attracted to you… Not in the slightest bit...” Kanari sighed, tearful for the pitiful soul that had wasted his life. “Love… It’s a mystical thing… You never know why you love someone or what makes you love that very same person. But when you love someone, you’ll be capable of dedicating your everything to that one person...”

Kanari’s eyes turned towards the western skies, the corners of her lips creeping slightly upwards. There was so much warmth… So much tenderness in her gaze that it made Fred’s slow-beating heart, burn. Those were the eyes that Fred had sought to see from Kanari… Those were the eyes that he wanted all for himself… Alas, they were for someone else.

“I understand how you feel about me because I feel the very same way about Shin… Whenever I see him smile, I smile. Whenever I see him in pain, I feel in pain. That’s… Love isn’t it?” A bead fell from the gorgeous beauty’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

‘S-She’s crying? For me?’

“I’m sorry, Fred… I’m sorry for causing you this much pain...” Kanari raised both her arms above her head, forcing the two Celestial Orbs in her hands to slowly merge. The Fire, Wind and Mind elements all ran wild as a vortex of pure spiritual energy dominated the battlefield. Every single ounce of mana in Kanari’s Spectre Soul was being converted into pure elemental energy… all to kill a man that was already half-dead.

“In your next life… Go find someone that truly loves you…”

Those were the last words that Fred heard. A flash of blaring light covered every single part of his vision as the man’s consciousness was enveloped with a warm and soothing embrace. Kanari’s mana… It wasn’t violent at all… It was the contrary. It was all-encompassing and extremely tender, just like how Fred had imagined Kanari’s love to be like.

‘Ahhh… Is this how it feels to be loved? To be truly cared for?’

Fred snickered, making one final declaration within his dying soul. He thought back on his life… How he suffered among all the hardships of the slums, only to become the most highly sought after talent in the Himmel Empire. All of Fred’s life, he had been subjected to the superficial emotions of humans. Using Fred when he was useful and disposing of him when his use was fulfilled. Every single interaction that he’d been part off… Every deal that was given to him… It wasn’t because others had cared for him as an individual, but as a tool that could be used for their own gains.

Then… The memory of that night… The night of Kanari’s birthday came into Fred’s dying mind.

The gorgeous young girl… The star that held the world in her hands… Walked over to Fred with an uninterested smile. She was forced to attend the function and shake hands with all the attendees, much to her dismay. Kanari, then twelve, was rather inept in hiding her false smile. After shaking the hands of over a hundred nobles, the girl took Fred’s with a tired and spiritless look. She was genuinely disinterested in Fred, a stark difference to the rest of the people in his life.

‘Perhaps it was then… That I fell for her...’ Fred thought. Everyone else thus far had been superficial, but this young girl… She was the only one that treated Fred honestly.

The final ember of his life was growing weaker and weaker, but his mind had a spot for one more memory. The image of Kanari’s loving eyes… That was the face that Fred had longed to see. It was the emotion that he had longed for from the gorgeous maiden. He wanted to see that face… directed at himself.

It was unfortunate… That dream... Would never come to pass…