Argon watched the six figures on the distant horizon and let out a sigh, a faint smile appearing on his exhausted face.
Unable to remain floating any longer, he allowed one of his guild members to help him to a quieter area farther away to rest.
Not long after, Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Damien, landed nearby. The old Dwarven King and the Beast Race Queen soon joined them, their expressions equally weary. Every one of them bore countless wounds, and the strain of pushing their powers beyond their limits was evident.
Elizabeth quietly flexed her aching fingers, feeling the pain coursing through every part of her body. She knew she had exhausted far too much of her power and needed to rest, yet she still stood with her back straight, her gaze fixed on the six figures as they continued to cleanse the battlefield.
After a long silence, she muttered.
"Those six kids... just how did they become this powerful?"
Her eyes lingered on Skyler before sweeping across the others.
"The news in Eldoria only said they were climbing the Battle Royal, but what exactly did they go through there? No one knows."
The Beast Race Queen dropped onto a nearby stone, no longer caring about royal etiquette. Completely exhausted, she let out a long breath before her gaze drifted toward the six youngsters in the distance.
"Elizabeth, which one is from your family? I have to admit, that Sky kid has truly brought out the full potential of your bloodline."
Elizabeth’s gaze flickered with emotion.
"The one with the blue eyes. Skyler Thorne has indeed surpassed every expectation."
The Beast Race Queen chuckled softly.
"Thorne? Didn’t his mother run away from home back then for love? Now it seems you’ve acknowledged him as royalty by giving him the royal family’s surname."
Elizabeth’s eyebrow twitched at her words, but she chose not to respond. Instead, she calmly changed the subject.
"Anyway, where’s the Eleven King?"
The Beast Race Queen frowned, a trace of disdain flashing across her beautiful face.
"That coward? He never stepped onto the front lines from beginning to end. Look toward the rear lines—he’s probably still hiding there with the younger generation."
At that moment, a somewhat familiar, soft voice called out to Damien from behind.
"Father?"
Damien glanced back, his gaze pausing as it fell upon a face he hadn’t seen in years. It was Skyler’s mother, Riya. Following behind her was a tall man—her husband, Johnson.
Damien’s expression softened. At that moment, he set the Lost Sapphire of Serenity beside him and gently patted Riya’s head.
"Riya, my dear. It’s been a while."
Elizabeth, however, merely cast Riya a cold glance, her expression utterly indifferent.
This daughter of hers had avoided her for years, choosing to stay out of sight. A short while earlier, Elizabeth had spotted her from afar. It seemed Riya had noticed that gaze and, after hesitating for a long time, had finally gathered the courage to come over.
Elizabeth spoke in a flat tone.
"Done hiding and running away?"
Riya’s expression fell at her mother’s words, but she didn’t take them to heart. After all, Elizabeth had always been like that.
Besides, her mother wasn’t wrong.
After running away from home, she had deliberately kept herself hidden for years, wanting to stay far away from the power struggles within the royal family and live a peaceful, ordinary life with her own family.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Riya greeted her mother once more. Receiving nothing but silence in return, she gave a bitter smile before turning to leave with her husband.
After the two had walked away, the Beast Race Queen glanced at Elizabeth with an amused expression.
"So cold. Aren’t you worried she’ll tell her now-powerful son—your own grandson—to have nothing to do with the royal family?"
Elizabeth didn’t respond. Instead, she watched as her husband ignored her and turned to follow their son, Alistair Thorne, who had just arrived, to go and rest.
Tightening her grip on her weapon, she silently headed back to the battlefield.
It had been days, yet Damien still hadn’t forgiven her after waking up and recovering from his illness. Elizabeth was grateful for whatever Skyler had done to save him, but Damien seemed to resent her for using the method Skyler had relied on to save his life.
Suddenly, Alistair glanced back at his mother’s fading figure before turning his gaze toward his father. A complicated expression appeared on his face.
"Father, now that you are healthy, why not resolve things with Mother? It’s been days."
Damien remained silent for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh.
"There are some things... I truly cannot forgive her for."
His voice was low and firm.
"So don’t try to persuade me."
Alistair fell silent. Just as they had walked a considerable distance away, Damien suddenly stopped. He glanced down at his empty hands.
"The sword."
Alistair blinked.
"What?"
Damien immediately turned back.
"I forgot the Lost Sapphire of Serenity."
Alistair was slightly speechless. He knew his father would never forget something as important as this. It was probably because he was focused on the Queen. Why couldn’t those two settle everything they had fought about and stop giving him a headache?
However, by the time the two returned to the place where Damien had left the Lost Sapphire of Serenity, it was already gone.
Alistair’s gaze passed over everyone else before settling on the Beast Race Queen.
"Your Majesty, please return the sword."
The Beast Race Queen was dumbfounded. She was indeed a bit mischievous, but she was far too exhausted to have the energy to steal a weapon in such a situation, even if it was a powerful Mythic-tier weapon!
"I didn’t take it!"
However, seeing even Argon and the Dwarven King staring at her suspiciously, she let out a furious laugh. It seemed they had no intention of believing her.
In the end, she removed all the storage rings from her fingers and tossed them toward Alistair with an annoyed smile.
"Check them yourself!"
After seeing the many treasures inside the rings but not finding even a trace of the Lost Sapphire of Serenity, Alistair frowned.
"Do you have any other storage rings?"
The Beast Race Queen rolled her eyes.
"What do you think? If you want to blame me, then just do it. It’s not like I can simply produce something I haven’t even touched."
Alistair checked the storage rings of the others as well. But after finding nothing, he once again turned his attention back to the Beast Race Queen, leading to another big argument. The queen was so irritated that she wanted to scratch his face in anger.
Just as their argument grew louder and Damien was about to step in, a loud roar suddenly echoed across the battlefield.
The land, which had only just begun to fall silent after so much bloodshed, trembled.
The air twisted violently, and space itself began to crack, shattering like fragile glass.