Hate me, Miss Witch!

"I think, rather than being a poor schemer, you might be better suited to writing novels," Shiayar said. "Besides, I really had no idea that a sealed ancient god could have so many uses, even mass-producing pollutants..."

He stopped his clapping and looked at Norton, shaking his head slightly. "But, unfortunately, I don't have any remarkable background or support. I'm just a hero, motivated by interest. Moreover, I really have no interest in usurping the power of Deities; I prefer to advance step by step on my own."

"A hero... motivated by interest," Norton repeated the phrase somewhat blankly, only feeling its absurdity.

In his eyes, Shiayar's choice to stay underground was naturally driven by a desire for the twilight Authority. Otherwise, why would he have stayed put instead of fleeing after firing that shot?

And as if seeing through Norton's thoughts, Shiayar's calm voice rang out once again. "Why stay here? Of course, to wait for the cooldown. On the other hand, Elder Norton, what are *you* waiting for?"

Shiayar's figure shifted slightly.

Norton, thinking Shiayar was about to draw his gun again, instantly tensed up, his focus sharpening. That previous shot was still fresh in his memory. The injuries it had inflicted on his Soul had not yet healed.

But Shiayar made no move to attack. He simply walked over to the nearby girl and bent down.

Silvia suddenly felt two hands—not particularly thick, but with well-defined knuckles—grasp her thighs and lift her. The hands were so familiar, their touch warm. They were just like the ones that had pulled her from the icy Abyss of the Grant Sea on that winter night.

"Hold tight," that familiar voice said.

Silvia, forcing her weak body to look up slightly, saw only those clear black eyes.

There was no conversation, no exchange, but the moment she saw Shiayar's eyes, Silvia understood everything. She had not been betrayed. Even if the life named "Silvia" was indeed a woven and manipulated script, those precious memories—and that glimmer of light which had pierced through Darkness and illuminated her eyes—were absolutely not false.

Silvia silently nodded, then reached out and wrapped her arms tightly around the young man's neck.

Only after Silvia was holding on tight did Shiayar turn to look at Norton in the distance. His eyes were clear and profound. He extended a slender finger, gently pressing it to his lips. "BOOM!"

The next moment, Shiayar and Silvia's figures disintegrated and vanished from the underground square.

Norton stared blankly in the direction where Shiayar and Silvia had disappeared, somewhat unable to comprehend the meaning of Shiayar's final gesture. But then, his pupils suddenly constricted.

In that instant, Norton saw myriad intense white lights flare up simultaneously. If converted to the measurement units of Shiayar's previous life, this was the equivalent of a full five hundred tons of TNT delivered by the Explosive Clay, all detonating at that very moment.

Somehow, Shiayar had managed to replace all the soil in the vicinity of the thirty-meter-deep underground square with his specially customized Explosive Clay.

Detonated along with the Explosive Clay were two hundred grams of Holy Water, blessed by a bishop of the Blazing Sun Church.

The intense heat turned the Holy Water into Holy Water vapor. A radiance like daylight instantly engulfed the entire underground square, swallowing Norton along with it.