Sanya had difficulties understanding what he just said. “...A warning?”

Lord nodded in response. He continued. “The Protectors of Worlds are people from various worlds that are recruited and trained. Their mission is to protect worlds, but before all, to protect their own world. It’s for this reason that when someone from a world reaches a certain level, they have two choices. Either they decide to stay on Stellar Temple in order to protect worlds where there is no or a not strong enough Protector, or they can return to their homeworld, and protect it in the future.”

Sanya understood, but she still had a question. “Why do you not recruit someone from worlds without Protectors, train them, then send them back. Only 10 days passed here, while 50 years passed for Talia.”

Lord waited for this question, but he still sighed. From her point of view, her question was reasonable. She was not aware how many worlds there were and how big were the Protectors of Worlds, but seeing how mighty was their leader they should be able to recruit easily.

“It’s for this reason that Talia is a bad example...First of all, I might be a transcendent, but I can’t look at every single person in a world as to find a good candidate. Some worlds are only centered around one planet, like yours. However, others are centered around several planets. Even sometimes, more than one galaxy. It is impossible to look at everybody. The second reason is that there are almost countless worlds, which make it even more difficult. So, it can be counted as a miracle that I looked at your world at this moment, and Talia was there.”

“Even if I find people, I have to persuade them to join us. If you take someone from a safe and peaceful place, and you ask them to come train, fight and risk their lives in other words, just because their world might be in danger in the future, not a lot would agree. It’s for this reason that even if our group is big, there is still not a Protector for each world. Also, it takes on average more than two centuries for a normal Protector to be strong enough, and I can’t use the Time Cradle so easily.”

Sanya listened and noticed something strange with what he said.”Wait you said that it takes in average two centuries to train someone to a suitable level. But, Talia came back only after 50 years.”

Lord knew that she would notice the problem. “That’s right, and this is precisely the problem. Talia is strong, very strong. When she fought an evil being two years ago, it was against something that reached the threshold of transcendence. It’s normally impossible for a mortal, no matter how strong they are, to beat it. But she did it and even survived a deadly curse. Well, it took her one entire year to heal. After this, she officially became the strongest Protector. And everything in only a bit less than 50 years. When I said two centuries earlier, it was in order to reach a good enough level to protect a world. In a quarter of this time, she went far beyond than this.”

Sanya was quite dizzy after hearing this. It seemed that even after knowing how strong Talia was, she still underestimated her. However, Lord had not finished his talk.

“It precisely because of this that I have to give you a warning. I saw Talia growing stronger and stronger every day, so I know that she became strong not to protect her world, but you. She came back not for protecting her world, but to protect you and to live with you. I know that she is not an idiot, but there is also one more thing I know. Your influence over her is strong, stronger than mine. If she had to choose between you and the world, she would not have to think for even a second before choosing.” Lord narrowed his eyes as he looked at the human girl behind the barrier. Cold sweats formed on Sanya’s back. The previous pressure started to reappear.

“You literally have the control over the strongest human weapon possible. With a few schemes, it would be easy for her to destroy the stability of the world for you, which would go against our mission. I think of Talia as an important subordinate, so I don’t want to do this. But, if I have I will not hesitate to act myself to stop you.” The air in the room was tense as all traces of friendliness disappeared from Lord’s face. His face was cold like he was looking at an insect.

Sanya’s head was lowered, making Lord unable to look at it. Even so, her shaking, clenched fists were in plain sight. However, no matter what, Lord had to tell her this. ‘This world is still young, and the type of power that appeared is also quite intriguing. Even more, I have still no clue about this thing with Talia. Well, answers to those questions depend on this girl’s reaction.’

One second later, Sanya finally reacted. “...Don’t....her.”

Lord’s true body was not in the room, so he could only hear her indirectly, making him unable to hear her low voice. He frowned his eyebrows. “If you have something to say speak louder.”

“...If you didn’t hear it then I will repeat it.” Suddenly, Sanya raised her head, causing Lord to be a bit surprised. There were no sadness, despair or fear on her face. In fact, there was only simple emotion.

“I SAID!”

It was an emotion that Lord never thought that he would see on her.

“DON’T TALK ABOUT TALIA AS!”

Rage. Rage filled Sanya like never before. Her teeth were gritted in anger as she glared furiously at the superior being before her!

“A HUMAN WEAPON EVER AGAIN!”

The room was filled with a bright radiant light coming from the bell around Sanya’s bell. The barrier expanded in size, adding another meter to its original radius. The surface undulated like the raging waves of a tempest, causing an intense wind to blow inside the room.

“You said that I might use her as a way to destroy the stability of the world, but why would I do this?! Why can’t I just live normally with my lover?! You said that you saw her growing during 50 years, but you know absolutely nothing about her! You can only see in her the powerful part, the part that fought, the part that killed an evil being! You don’t know what there is truly inside her!”

Sanya started to walk up to where Lord was. Her steps were firm and resolute. Her earlier fear was totally gone.

“I was so worried when she was not here! I was insecure when I heard that she fought! And you are saying that if I want I could make her take more risks? Don’t make me laugh! From the moment that I confessed my love, I understood that she might have to fight in the future. But, I will be here to support her, to hug her, to console her. Not to make her fight even more!”

The barrier around her adjusted its shape as it moved with its master.

“So, if you separated my room from the rest of the world, and made me unable to reach Talia just to threaten me with your nonsense, then you can get the hell out of here!”

By now, Sanya was in front of the bed and she looked directly at Lord. Her eyes were dead serious as she made her statements. Lord looked at the scene with a face filled with a bit of shock. ‘...Really, this world is full of crazy people. A few minutes ago she was scared of my simple presence, but now, she is aware of who I am and still talked back in anger... Also, I made a mistake earlier when I said she seemed to wield the Radiant Bell like it has been months. It’s more like she has been using it like nobody did before. Her link with it is on a whole different realm.”

Lord raised his hands as he sighed in defeat. “Aaah, I’m sorry. Calm down, calm down. Also, I said that I wanted to talk about two things, so there are more than just a warning. I just needed to let you know, but it seems that it will ok. I see that you like and care for her a lot. I don’t have to worry about letting her in your hands.”

“You had no reasons to worry from the start.”The majority of the hostility was gone from Sanya as she backed off a bit and cooled down. The bell returned to its usual brightness and the barrier also shrunk in size. Sanya’s attitude was the total opposite of her usual weak self. If Talia was here she would have mistaken her for her mother. However, it seemed Sanya was not aware of it as she acted by instinct.

Lord shook his head. Then, he suddenly looked downward. “We took too much time with this talk that seems to have been pointless. We have one more minute until Talia arrive.”

“Why do you not want her to be here?” Sanya frowned her eyebrows. She could somehow understand the warning, but what is there more to talk that need to keep Talia aside? Lord explained.

“I have important questions about the power in your world. It also involves Talia and how she got so strong. This time it’s absolutely vital as it impacts more than just your world.” Lord was more serious than when he gave his warning, causing Sanya to gulp in tension.

“However, we don’t have time as Talia already completed her magic, and if I block her way here she will suspect something. I will contact you tomorrow when she is not here. Also, absolutely don’t tell her about tomorrow talk. You can tell her about anything else, but not this.” Sanya was a bit clueless. Seeing her face, Lord understood her interrogations.

“I am sure she told you about her powers, but she didn’t tell you about how she obtained them, right?” Sanya recalled Talia’s explanation. It was true that Talia had shown her her powers, but she had not talked about how she got them. Sanya nodded. As to interrupt them, a blue light started to shine in mid-air two meters away from Sanya.

“We don’t have time. Anyway, I will contact you tomorrow. Talia is coming.” Sanya’s eyes were locked on the blue light, her heart a bit conflicted. If Talia had not told her about something, there must have been a reason. Was it a good idea to learn about it behind her back?