The news of Grady’s annexation of Serorida shook the entire continent and delighted the king of Alterg. He even agreed to Grady’s requests to marry Karina and to go to the Dark Night Forest to draw the Holy Sword.
Both the king of Alterg and Grady himself, as well as Karina, became more convinced than ever after this war that they were the true Hero and the true Saintess!
Thus, they set off for the Dark Night Forest in grand style.
But unfortunately, the moment Grady’s knights entered the Dark Night Forest, they were all separated from one another.
In the Dark Night Forest, there was no day or night, only dense fog everywhere. The only things that could be seen were one fork in the road after another. There was no direction, no time—only loneliness, accompanied by beasts and monsters that suddenly emerged.
Compared to the silence when Lant came to draw the sword four years ago, the Dark Night Forest, having endured several rounds of slaughter, was now far more bloody and terrifying.
Grady’s heart trembled. While wondering how Lant had managed to get out of this godforsaken place unscathed, he kept comforting himself, insisting that he was the chosen Hero!
He led Karina. They walked, went the wrong way, circled back, killed monsters, and walked again…
It felt as if they had reached the ends of the earth. After stepping over countless dried bloodstains and bones, and after killing countless monsters with all their might, they finally arrived before the Divine Tower.
“Your Highness! The Holy Sword is right ahead!” Karina was exhausted and almost collapsed on the ground, but she was extremely excited.
She wanted proof. If His Highness successfully drew the sword this time, then she too would surely awaken holy power!
“Karina! Let’s go!” Grady was overjoyed and dashed towards the Divine Tower.
The Divine Tower still looked the same. The same ancient structure towering into the clouds, covered in vines, standing unyielding in the river of time.
“You are not my master. Retreat at once! Retreat at once!” An ancient voice resounded from the sky, shaking people’s hearts.
“What… what do you mean?” Grady could not believe what he had just heard.
He was not the master? He was being told to leave?
No!
Impossible!
He sacrificed an entire knight brigade to get here! How could he not be the master of the Holy Sword? He was the chosen one, the reborn one!
He clearly had people watching this place the whole time. No one came to draw the sword!
Karina’s face also turned pale.
What was going on?
Could it be that Grady was not the master of the Holy Sword?
Then what about her? Would she also be unable to awaken holy power? But Freya was already dead!
Could it be that even after being reborn into a new life, she could not escape the fate of death?
After all that effort, was it all for nothing? Grady refused to believe it. Ignoring the increasingly stern warnings from the Divine Tower, he charged straight toward the gate.
“Aaaahhh!”
The moment he touched the Divine Tower’s gate, his hand was twisted into a grotesque shape by an attack.
“Retreat at once! Retreat at once!”
The warnings grew louder. The surrounding thick fog became even denser.
“No! I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!” Grady had clearly fallen into madness, struggling desperately to break through the gate.
“Your Highness! Give up! Your Highness! Come back!” Karina was extremely anxious.
She could not afford to lose Grady. If Grady were gone, who would protect her?
Grady’s actions utterly enraged the Divine Tower.
BOOM!
Unexpectedly, a purple-blue lightning bolt suddenly descended from the sky, striking down with an explosive roar, like divine punishment.
The smell of scorched charcoal spread through the swirling dust.
Karina fell to the ground, her eyes wide with horror at the scene before her.
“Grady?” Karina looked around and called out repeatedly, but there was no sign of anyone.
“Grady?!” Stumbling, she ran to the gate. All she saw were tiny black ashes drifting in the air.
“Retreat at once! Retreat at once!” The Divine Tower continued its warning.
Karina collapsed to the ground.
She realized that Grady was dead… struck by the heavenly lightning of divine punishment, leaving no body behind…
“No! No!” Fear instantly surged over her, wrapping around her so tightly that she could barely breathe.
Karina’s legs went weak. She got up and ran back the way they came. She could not die yet! She had to escape!
Why!
Why did this life turn out like this?
Why!
Why did Freya die so early!
This was not the ending she was supposed to have!
But she had not run far when another divine punishment descended from the sky. Before Karina could finish her wail of despair, she was reduced to ashes in an instant.
In a small country south of Serorida, Freya had just finished treating a batch of patients. Lant was wiping the sweat from her cheeks when 0250 reported in a timely manner, “Host, the original male lead and female lead triggered divine punishment in the Dark Night Forest. They are dead.”
Lant’s movement paused for a second. Then he continued gently wiping Freya’s sweat.
Freya keenly noticed his slight pause and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lant shook his head. “Nothing. I just sensed that Grady and Karina died in the Dark Night Forest.”
Freya quickly understood. The two must have tried to draw the Holy Sword, only to end up with nothing.
Once, she had hated those two fiercely. But now, spending every day with Lant, busy healing people and killing monsters, she had unknowingly let go of that grudge.
The Holy Sword and Divine Tower, which had been holed up in the space for four years, still maintained a connection. Upon learning that the two triggered divine punishment, they could only comment: “Six16 or 666 means awesome, smooth, impressive, nice”
Over the past six months, the entire continent had become increasingly chaotic. As the Saintess with the power of healing and purification, Freya could not bear to watch living beings suffer and the common people struggle in misery. How could she continue hiding in the southernmost paradise?
So, using the aliases Leah and Luke, she and Lant traveled across the continent as adventurers and wanderers, making their way towards Serorida and Alterg in the center of the continent.
Of course, by now Serorida had fallen, leaving Alterg as the only power holder on the continent.
Although Alterg had annexed Serorida, they gained little benefit. Just governing its own territory, which was now riddled with problems due to the presence of demons, had already become a big headache.
Xiaobai On The Two Young Masters Insist