Charles and the others were ready to kick Skyler from the chair. But before they could, Skyler opened his clenched fist. Instantly, a low, barely audible clink of something hard striking the scale echoed through the air.
That sudden, quiet noise was immediately followed by a thunderous bang as the left side of the scale slammed straight to the ground, as if it couldn’t bear the weight of whatever Skyler had just dropped atop it.
All eyes immediately snapped toward the source of the sound. What they saw made their eyes nearly pop out. The guardian, in disbelief, started coughing up blood on the spot. What Skyler had just dropped on the scale was a tiny, even smaller than a pinky nail, sparkling shard of an ordinary crystal!
It was so tiny, they could barely see it!
The guardian clutched his heaving chest and pointed a trembling finger at Skyler.
"You—!"
Skyler replied solemnly.
"Don’t you dare ask for more! This is already all I can barely part with."
He finally stood up.
"Now open the door to the Realm of Stillness. I’ve offered something dear."
The pig’s pink eyes bulged in anger—and then he fainted. He fainted for the second time; the first had been because of Max.
This time, it was a psychological blow.
A blow he would never forget.
Skyler glared at the message screen floating before him, his face darkening.
On the other hand, 505 was laughing its codes off. If it had a body, it would have already started rolling around in laughter.
("Hahaha! Host, hahaha, did you see his expression before he fainted? Hahaha! So this is what’s most dear to the Host after Riruru? How did 505 forget this! Hahaha!")
Skyler ignored the foolish system, which couldn’t understand the pain he felt giving up that shard of crystal, and strode toward the unconscious guardian. He slapped the pig’s face to rouse him, muttering a threat.
"Open the gate to the Realm! Or the next thing I put on the balance will be your fat body! Don’t think I don’t know—this scale has no rules. It accepts everything, even if what’s offered doesn’t belong to the one offering it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked me to offer what isn’t even mine."
The guardian was jolted awake, almost fainting again as he saw Skyler hurling his body toward the balance scale. He waved his hand frantically, and a familiar, ancient gate materialized behind his throne. Skyler tossed his body aside in disdain, crossed past the throne, and pushed the gate open, loudly calling out to the others who were still dazed, staring at the shard of crystal.
"Let’s go. You all need an invitation?"
Zack and the others snapped out of their stupor. Their first reaction was to glance at Skyler’s back. The second was to burst into laughter, just like 505, wondering how they had forgotten that this jerk could even risk his life for shiny things. Obviously, Skyler loved to hoard them! Ordinary gems were more precious to him than all of them!
It was infuriating, yet true.
Laughing their heads off, they hurriedly stepped through the open gate. After so many exhausting days, they had finally reached their first destination safely.
Much had changed.
They had changed too.
And maybe, when they emerged from this realm, they would have changed even more—even if time within the realm stood still.
On this journey, they had all noticed how Skyler and Zack seemed to know far more than they should—almost as if they could see the future, or as if this wasn’t their first time living. Yet, no one asked them why.
They would wait—wait until the two revealed their secrets on their own.
After all, they were friends.
Right?
***
Just as the group of six vanished into the gate, a familiar figure stepped out from the shadows. A pair of golden eyes lingered on the gate that disappeared into space, then slowly shifted to the heaving pig sprawled on the ground, trying to climb the throne.
A cold voice broke the silence.
"He didn’t kill you?"
Time on the mountain froze as the golden eyes narrowed dangerously. Even the small, falling peach blossom petals stilled midair.
Hearing the familiar voice, the human-like pig jerked his head back, his neck creaking from the abrupt motion, only for his eyes to dilate when he saw the familiar tall figure—someone who should have long since left this place! After all, time within the secret realm stood still. So even though Max had spent years inside it, he had emerged mere moments after he had entered its gate.
Max tilted his head.
His hands were covered in calluses.
His clothes were worn.
His body looked as though it had endured years of relentless training, now exuding a faint divine aura. A very old yet strangely ethereal silver sword hung at his waist.
"Why didn’t he kill you?"
The question came out sharp.
"I thought he would have torn you into pieces the moment he laid eyes on you."
"Ah."
The sound followed a pause.
Then a low, humorless chuckle.
"Right. He refuse to remember."
A chill ran down the guardian’s spine as alarm bells rang in his head. He instantly scrambled to escape, but in that instant, Max’s hand closed around the hilt of the sword hanging at his waist. With a sharp, crisp sound, the silver blade was drawn.
"Then let me do it."
The guardian cried out.
"You can’t kill me!"
He was supposed to be the stronger one here! But why, before that kid Skyler—and this Max—did everything feel wrong, like everything was slipping out of control?
From the moment he had seen them, his instincts had been shouting at him that if he attempted anything against the two, he would be the one to lose his life instead.
A chilling dread coiled in his chest as his gaze landed on Max’s hand. The gleaming silver sword there was no ordinary weapon—it was actually the famed Blade of Aethel, capable of killing even immortals like him!
How the hell did he get it?!