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There were two exclusive Closed Training Camps for the Hidden Palace Master.
One was in the "Hidden Palace within the Hidden Palace," which could only be accessed through the power of Full Ice.
The other was on the top floor of the Hidden Palace.
Siris was about to open the latter.
The first had limited access, as Siris had not yet fully mastered Full Ice, and within it was sealed Elona Zipple.
Randomly opening the Hidden Palace within the Hidden Palace and stimulating Misha and Elona could cause problems, and more importantly, if something happened to Jin inside, there would be no way to respond quickly from the outside.
[Boong!]
Siris placed Jin on Mort.
The faint pulse felt in his wrist, which she held to support him, was too weak.'Jin must be facing psychic attacks on a completely different level than anyone else...'
Indeed, the psychic attacks experienced by the others were of a much lower intensity.
Having bravely endured all of this until now, Siris felt deep respect for Jin, who now declared he would fight alone.
Mort crawled along the walls, heading outside.
Although they considered the possibility of teleportation, even the natural fluctuations of running through the snowy garden would likely harm Jin in his current weakened state.
Valeria, Qwaul, and the other members of the Hidden Palace were already waiting for Jin on the top floor.
Finally, Mort arrived at the top floor.
"Hoo..."
Jin, descending from Mort's back, took a deep breath.
The air was icy, to the point of making his lungs ache, but Jin barely perceived that sensation.
His senses in the physical world had dulled to an extreme degree.
His vision was blurry, his hearing weak, and his limbs lacked all strength.
Could they really send someone like him alone into the Closed Training Camp?
Watching Jin as he walked with Gilly's support, his worried companions could only feel anxious.
Jin looked at his companions, blurry in his field of vision.
"Young Master..."
Gilly's voice, filled with concern, trembled.
It was hard for her to witness Jin, exhausted to his limits.
"I see you were all waiting for me."
Jin wanted to speak with his usual confident voice, assuring them not to worry and to wait.
But now he wanted to share his true feelings, just a little.
"If I don't come out of the Training Camp after these days... it means I've lost. And that would mean my death."
At that moment, Gilly couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
Valeria gently patted her back, biting her lower lip.
For a while, no one said a word.
"To be honest, I'm not sure I can win. But I won't leave any last words. I don't want a sad farewell as if it were the end. After this battle, the real fight will begin." ṘÀɴòβÊŜ
Jin made eye contact with Siris, signaling her with his gaze to open the door to the Closed Training Camp.
When Siris drew the Full Ice and inserted it into the door as if it were a key, a surge of pure white energy emanated from within the Training Camp.
As the door opened, a vast, cold white expanse was revealed.
"So this can't end here..."
Jin advanced slowly, pressing the ground with Bradamante, which served as his cane.
The bag containing the minimum provisions didn't seem heavy at all.
His senses in the physical world were dulling rapidly.
Although he had only taken a few steps, his comrades behind him already felt distant.
"Jin! Return safely. I'm resisting the psychic attacks well, so I'm sure you can win! When you come back, I'll share my eel jerky with you!"
Surprisingly, the first and most accurate voice to shout belonged to none other than Darkflame.
Darkflame, among the small beast men of the Hidden Palace, was the only one experiencing psychic attacks.
"W-What? W-What's going on? Why is that guy suddenly speaking so well?"
Peng was baffled, shouting in disbelief.
Even the bewildered comrades were momentarily startled by Darkflame's precise and quick speech.
"I'll share my eel jerky! Eel jerky...!"
"Hey, Darkflame! Are you okay? Eh? No, you must be... fine. You're not fine at all."
"I'll share my eel jerky!"
As Peng grabbed Darkflame's shoulder, he realized Darkflame was closing his eyes tightly, clearly in the midst of the pain from the psychic attack.
In the midst of his foggy state of mind, the fact that he said this to encourage Jin and that they came out quickly and smoothly surprised him.
Darkflame was undeniably the weakest person in this Hidden Palace. Yet, he was trying so hard.
The shouts of offering his eel jerky echoed, unnoticed by his comrades, and unheard by Jin himself. Jin smiled faintly as he heard them.
Once Jin fully entered the Closed Training Camp, Siris closed the door with a heavy expression.
Now, his comrades could only do one thing for Jin.
They could only hope for his victory, like countless ordinary people in the world.
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The training field was pure white, but to Jin's eyes, it seemed like a night sea without a single hint of light.
He couldn't tell if he was standing, sitting, or even lying down.
But what mattered to Jin now was not reality.
The inner battlefield he had been fiercely fighting without a moment's rest was more important.
He needed to dive deeper into himself.
To the point where there was no trace of sensory perception of the outside world.
That's why he chose the Closed Training Camp.
He needed a space where he could focus entirely on the inner battlefield, without the slightest external stimulus.
Jin carefully sank into a deep trance, heading towards his inner world.
It was like walking on the border between life and death.
If he deviated a single step, oblivion and death would envelop him.
"Do you think it's right?"
"Do you think that method is right?"
"And do you think you can reach me through it?"
"Can you save all those people from me?"
From time to time, in the midst of his journey to the inner world, Rosa's voice echoed in his ears.
Every time her dark voice invaded his consciousness, he trembled with unease.
Sometimes he regretted it. He even felt the urge to turn around and leave immediately.
As he approached his inner world, the fear grew stronger and stronger.
A colossal fear he had never experienced in his past or present lives was devouring Jin.
'Trembling with fear is something I've never seen in you before.'
'It's just the first time you've seen it. It happens to me often.'
'Is that so?'
'When you were human, you must have felt the same way.'
I've never succumbed to fear. Then show me. Show me that you can do the same."
At first, Jin had thought of fighting alone to achieve it.
But as he delved deeper into his inner world, Jin soon realized.
In this desolate and lonely world, to overcome fear, he had to become a monster like Rosa.
Without becoming a monster to a certain extent, he could only succumb to the fear of loneliness in his inner world.
A white line entered Jin's field of vision.
Instinctively, he recognized it as a sort of door leading deeper into his inner world, where Rosa's self was supposed to be waiting.
Moreover, that white line was also a crossroads of choices.
Depending on the intention with which he pulled it, the outcome would change.
If he pulled it with the intention of becoming a monster, he would become one, and if he wanted to remain human, it would simply open.
"But staying human...
You can't defeat me."
Rosa could now penetrate Jin's thoughts, just as Lingling had done in the past. It was because their selves, touching the inner world, had come closer.
Now you should also be able to read my thoughts, my son.
This internal battle is a gift I've prepared for you.
Before forming a bond, this mother wanted to make you a more perfect being.
A being capable of fighting against me on equal terms.
Open the door with the intention of becoming a monster. That is your only hope of defeating me.
Rosa said that.
Jin cautiously held the white line.
But just as he was about to pull it with the intention of becoming a monster, he flinched and stopped.
When he looked back once, the path to the inner world he had traveled until then shattered and flew away like dust.
But a sudden crackling sound reached his ears.
It wasn't Rosa's grim voice but the whispers of people outside, like a murmur, tickling Jin's ears.
He couldn't hear the content at all.
It was like a fresh breeze blowing in his ears, but it was enough for Jin to reconsider.
'I almost gave up the one thing that makes me superior to you, just to be like you, to oppose you.'
As humans have the emotion of fear, they protect themselves from danger.
They can flee out of fear, and they can face it properly out of fear.
It was the human way of fighting while trembling with fear.
'Even if I become a monster and defeat you... another evil god will only appear in this world.'
Due to the prolonged psychic attack, Jin had neglected this obvious fact.
Jin cautiously grasped the white line, and as the door opened, what appeared was not Rosa's self.
It wasn't an empty space nor a vague darkness.
It was the back of a man sitting.
"Father...?"
It was the back of his father, Cyron Runcandel.
The reason he was standing in the place where Rosa's self should have been was because Jin hadn't become a monster.
"Jin."
There had never been a moment when Jin wanted to see his father so much.
Strength returned to his trembling limbs, and his hazy mind felt as if warm blood was flowing through it.
Jin ran toward Cyron without realizing it.
However, he couldn't reach Cyron.
A deep and vast chasm, like a cliff, separated Jin from Cyron.
When Jin stopped in front of the precipice, Cyron turned around and looked back.
It was his father's face, which he hadn't seen in a long time.
Father and son looked into each other's eyes for a while.
"You've endured well."
With those words spoken by Cyron, Jin suddenly realized.
In this lonely and agonizing inner world, Cyron had been watching over him from the beginning to the end.
"There will be a day when we meet again."
With those words, Cyron turned around and began to walk away.
As if to say: let's return to our respective battlefields.
Jin watched his father, walking toward a deeper, darker place, for a long time.
It didn't seem appropriate to add more words to his father at that moment.
When Cyron's figure disappeared, and Jin turned back, he saw that the shattered paths of his inner world were reforming.
Like Cyron, Jin silently walked that path.
When Jin finally escaped from his inner world and regained his sense of reality,
Four days had passed outside, and Rosa's psychic attacks that had been tormenting the world had completely vanished.
Jin, filled with more energy than ever, opened the doors of the training field with all his might.
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