historical

Shortly after Sybil disappeared from the underground space, Henrietta reopened her eyes with a soft sigh, lamenting the fate of humanity.

'Greed, betrayal, war.. Rinse and repeat. Humanity never learns from its mistake.. Never united, always distrustful, always hating.'

Henrietta had already taught the other Transcendent Witches the secret to becoming stronger multiple times in the past. She had told them the trick lay in utilization, not accumulation of one's power.

Without applying utilization, her divine power would just be as strong as any other Transcendent Witch.

However, it was a shame that no one believed her even though they were all granted equal opportunities. Ultimately, they simply had differences in talents.

If Sybil and the other Transcendent Witches weren't so entitled that they regarded her generosity as a privilege, she might have continued to help them.

Unfortunately, they shouldn't have gone after things that didn't belong to them.

Even though Henrietta was absent from her throne, she didn't have the slightest concern for her kingdom. She knew it would be fine even without her.

The Holy Knight Empire was in for a rude awakening if it invaded the Kingdom of Black Rose and stirred up the hornet's nest.

'You should stop caring about the human race, Young Henrietta. For the past three hundred years, you have tried to guide them on the right path. But where has that gotten you? Nowhere. They have only ever tried to take advantage of your kindness and use you for their own interest,' an ancient voice sounded in Henrietta's mind.

'Demons aren't the greatest threat to humanity. No, you should have known by now – Humanity itself is the greatest threat to its own existence! Thus, you do not need to care about them. If they are fated for extinction, nothing you do can stop it. Instead, you should focus on yourself!"

'In the great scheme of things, all beings, including humans, are merely pawns in the game of life, struggling for survival and dominance! If you don't fight to win, your bones will be the stepping stones for lifting others toward their goals!'

'Of all my successors, your talent has been the greatest. As a mere Rank 5, you can already perceive the universal laws. But, even though it is done through my divine power, that's still not something just anyone can do.'

'You can still become much stronger, Young Henrietta. You just need to throw away your burdens and wholeheartedly pursue power. Once you achieve eternity, you'll understand what it means by a small sacrifice for the greater good.'

'Compared to eternal life, protecting humanity is but an insignificant goal. Humanity does not need your protection. But, more importantly, they clearly do not want your protection! So why bother?' the ancient voice asked.

"We've been over this multiple times, Master. It's just something for my own self-satisfaction. When I am ready, I will definitely pursue power wholeheartedly. So you don't need to worry about that," Henrietta replied perfunctorily.

'Hmph! Suit yourself. Just don't die,' the ancient voice ordered.

"I know."

Shortly after, Henrietta closed her eyes and resumed her meditation, spreading out her consciousness to perceive her surroundings in silence.

..

..

..

Kingdom of Black Rose, Red Goblin Mountain

After Vaan reached the highest point of the mountain, he studied the region with Omni-Sense. Soon, he confirmed the present land wasn't suitable for building such a large magic tower.

Due to the collapse of the previous pocket realm, the foundations wouldn't be firm enough to keep a ten-thousand-foot magic tower standing.

The slightest unevenness in the foundation would drastically increase the risk of the magic tower tilting and falling over. In that event, all their effort, time, and money would be laid to waste.

'It looks like some landscaping will be required,' Vaan thought.

Shortly after, he summoned all three of his contracted spirits.

Considering he had been keeping them inside his body for a while, it was just the right time to let them out to play.

"Fyuu—!"

Ruby was the first to fly out of Vaan's body as she materialized into her mountain bluebird form. The unfamiliar environment immediately made Ruby halt her movements before she surveyed the area out of curiosity.

However, she was quickly interrupted before she could get a good look.

Topaz, who was excited and full of energy, shot out of Vaan's body like a blazing cannonball, crashing straight into Ruby's back and knocking her off into the distance.

Ruby spun uncontrollably, becoming dizzy as she drew an arc in the air before she crashlanded, embedding her beak into the soft ground that shortly hardened due to her flames.

As a result, Ruby ended up stuck upside down with half her body inside the hardened ground. Her legs flailed in the air helplessly as she tried to free herself but to no avail.

"Fyuu, fyuu!" Ruby cried for help in her panicky and disorientated state, forgetting she was a Mid-rank Fire Spirit.

Topaz did not attempt to help Ruby free herself. Instead, she simply poked Ruby a few times for fun, causing the latter to become distressed.

Meanwhile, Emerald was the last to leave Vaan's body.

"Myuu?"

At first, Emerald peeked outside Vaan's body with just her head like a timid child before she deemed the outside was safe for her to come out.

She landed on the ground with a soft plop.

After she saw Ruby's plight and heard her cry for help, she went over to get Ruby out of the ground. However, she immediately backed away and gave up after she got slightly burned by her flames.

"Myuu.." Emerald rubbed the small burn on her hand with a sad look.

On the other hand, Topaz continued to poke Ruby in odd places and teased her, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Kukukukyu," Topaz giggled.

"Fyu, f-yuu!" Ruby tried to evade the ticklish poke with her limited movements before she became a little mad at Topaz.

Boom!

Ruby charged up her fiery energy and erupted with an outburst of flames, blasting her way out of the ground and freeing herself.

At the same time, bits of hot soil and red flames scattered in every direction. Topaz and Emerald were both caught under the small explosion of fireworks.

However, debris and flames simply bounced off Topaz's body. On the other hand, Emerald got lit on fire when a piece of burning rock landed on her head.

"Myu, myuu!" Emerald cried pitifully, running in circles and rolling around on the ground as she attempted to put out the fire.

The scene became chaotic following the interaction between the three spirits.

Vaan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the chaotic scene following the interaction between his three contracted spirits.

Ruby's bad luck seemed to have spread to Emerald and caused her secondhand suffering.

"Alright, alright. That's enough. Tia, you should apologize to Ru and make peace with each other," Vaan instructed, causing Topaz to pout but ultimately comply. Then, he turned to Emerald. "Mera, you won't blame Ru, right?"

"Myu!" Emerald shook her head while hiding behind Vaan's leg timidly, seemingly recovered from her burns but still afraid of Ruby.

Nevertheless, shortly after Vaan mediated between the three spirits, he put all three of them to work. He had them help him do some landscaping and improve the solidity of the ground.

First, Vaan and Emerald manipulated the growth of tree roots, causing them to spread deep and far throughout the underground.

Then, Vaan and Topaz pulled up all the rocks and debris underneath the earth before flattening and compressing the ground, removing any gaps left behind by the collapsed pocket realm.

Afterward, Vaan and Ruby set fire to everything in a blazing hellfire, transforming the region into a land of molten lava.

Most of the work in the second half was primarily carried out by just Vaan and Ruby.

As such, Emerald hid in Vaan's body as the horrid flames devastated the area after her work was done.

On the other hand, Topaz stood on Vaan's shoulder with one hand pointing out and the other on her hips, acting like she was a construction supervisor directing Ruby's work.

"Kyu, kyu, kyuu!"

"Fyu, fyuu."

Ruby lazily played along while following Vaan's lead.

Nevertheless, they repeatedly refined the mountain, transforming it into a land of igneous rocks, as igneous rocks were much harder than ordinary rocks.

Unfortunately, Vaan couldn't finish his work on the mountain in a single day due to its sheer size and his spirits exhausting their mana.

"Kyuu.."

"Myuu.."

"Fyuu.."

Topaz, Emerald, and Ruby all lay on the ground sluggishly, not wanting to do anything as they suffered from mana deficiency.

"Thank you for the hard work," Vaan acknowledged their effort with a smile.

In return, Topaz, Emerald, and Ruby responded with cute, innocent, and cheerful smiles. Although they were tired, the work was fun and worth it in the end.

After Vaan fed them mana stones to help them recover, he glanced at the darkened sky and noticed many hours had passed.

He decided it was time to head back for the day, check on the situation in Sunpeak Town, and spend the night training with the ladies.

But as Vaan was about to leave, he sensed Zodreg's presence from a distance. Zodreg had also felt Vaan's general location and made his way over.

Zodreg had most likely completed his first round of scouting and came back to report his findings to Vaan.

"I have finished scouting the neighboring regions as you required, Supreme Leader," Zodreg announced after descending from the sky and exiting his stealth mode.

Sure enough, it was as Vaan expected.

"Did you find anything usual?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader!"

"Let's hear it then."