Skyler leaned down, resting his forehead against hers, and murmured softly.
"It won’t take long. I promise."
She smiled.
"And how much time do you think I have left? What if, by that time, I no longer—"
She couldn’t finish her sentence. Skyler immediately raised his hand and covered her mouth, stopping the rest of her words.
"And who says that will happen?"
His voice was calm, but his dark gaze carried an undeniable determination.
"I said I will be back... so I will. We will find the remaining pieces, and then everything will be fine. You will live a long life with me."
Her eyes deepened with interest as she reluctantly rose from his lap, smoothing out her clothes with a faint smile on her lips.
"Alright... let’s see just how far you can go, my dear. I will be watching."
She paused, her voice carrying a hint of amusement.
"Locating divine treasures here isn’t easy because of the immortals, but with my help, you can find their territories. If you have the ability to take the treasures from them..."
Her eyes swept toward Charles and the others sitting stiffly at the other end of the large dining table, their heads lowered as if they didn’t dare to look in their direction.
"Your companions can reach the Divine Rank as well."
Skyler stood up.
"I will go with you. The others aren’t strong enough to fight the immortals yet. Even if they could, it would take far too much time. With me alone, things will be much faster."
With that, Skyler helped the mermaid and the white snake enter the pocket space.
Then, he and the Demon Queen, who laughed softly, vanished from the hall.
The moment their presence disappeared, Isaac raised his head and let out a breath.
"Damn... I feel like I can breathe again."
Charles immediately agreed.
"Me too."
The group left the dining table but found that they couldn’t leave the castle. Instead, the two demons in the hall escorted them to different luxurious rooms in the castle.
However, none of them felt at ease staying alone in such big rooms, so they eventually decided to gather in a single room, thinking about what had happened in the dining hall.
A few hours later, just as their minds had finally relaxed and they were preparing to rest, Skyler appeared in the room. Floating in his hands were six golden, glowing orbs.
Zack stared at the shimmering orbs and swallowed hard. His mind was in turmoil, knowing how difficult it was to find divine treasures in the novel. Yet this guy had returned with so many in just a few hours.
What the hell had he even done?!
Just like Zack; Austin, Yuris, Isaac, and Charles, they all had the same question.
Sensing their unspoken question, Skyler casually tossed one golden orb to each of them, keeping the final one for himself.
"I killed an immortal."
The simple statement left the room in stunned silence.
Zack suddenly blurted out.
"Without the Blade of Aethel?!"
Skyler raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I need that? The Immortals in the higher levels may be powerful, but they are nowhere near as difficult to kill as those who have reached the true Divine Rank."
Zack choked on his breath and dared not ask anything further. The golden orb in his palm felt as though it was burning with an overwhelming heat.
Skyler ignored his reaction and instructed everyone to settle down. Breaking through to the Divine Rank was no simple matter.
They had to give it their all.
After all, even with everyone at the peak of the Mythic Tier and a divine treasure, unlike him, there was still a chance they could fail.
The process itself was painful enough to make even the strongest lose their resolve.
And Skyler didn’t want any of them to fail.
As everyone followed Skyler outside the Demon Castle and settled into different positions in a circle beneath the dark sky, with Skyler at the center, he explained the process to them and watched them closely.
He decided to break through only after they had all succeeded. That way, if something happened, he could help them. The eyes of the demons flying in the surroundings and guarding the dark castle flashed with greed when they saw the divine treasures in their possession. However, none of them dared to make a move on the group after seeing their Queen watching from the highest floor of the tall castle and sensing the powerful barrier Skyler had created around the area.
Still, the demons snickered at the scene, believing it was a huge waste. After all, even with valuable divine treasures, the chance of reaching the Divine Rank was only one in a hundred. And for humans, a race regarded as one of the weakest, that chance was practically reduced to nothing.
With that thought, many gathered around the area, waiting to watch them fail and, if possible, absorb some divine energy when these humans failed miserably to ascend.
Yuris, Zack, Austin, Isaac, and Charles remained unaware of the growing crowd around them as they focused entirely on their breakthroughs. The first step of the ascension was to shatter the many small elemental crystals they had painstakingly formed in their hearts. Those crystals held the accumulation of their elemental power, and breaking them apart would release all of that powerful energy at once. They then had to carefully merge that released power into a single source before combining it with the divine power they would absorb from the orbs in their hands, allowing it to spread throughout their entire bodies.
This entire process would change their mortal bodies, elevating them to a state capable of enduring and wielding divine power. Once their bodies completed this powerful transformation, they would no longer need to rely on elemental crystals.
They would be able to directly absorb Evol from the atmosphere and convert it into their respective elemental powers at will.
The entire process appeared simple, but it was very dangerous. After all, human heart was fragile. One mistake could cost them their lives, causing their hearts to explode from the huge power they failed to control.