Hate me, Miss Witch!

Shiayar and Silvia's forms disappeared beneath the Grand Ducal residence.

Surrounding them, everything was spinning wildly, changing.

When the scenery settled once again, gone was the dim and chilly underground hall.

In its place was the outskirts of the Royal Capital, an utterly ordinary civilian dwelling.

Since it was on the very edge of the residential area, this house had not been trampled by the previous tide of calamitous beasts and had kept its intact appearance.

The dim candlelight burned in the room, becoming the sole source of light.

At this moment, Silvia, in Shiayar's arms, had her eyes tightly shut.

The sensation of several consecutive "Flash" teleports was far from pleasant. Each "Flash" was akin to experiencing a chaotic torrent of spatial distortion. If activated in quick succession, the resulting dizziness would be more than ten times worse than that of a fighter jet executing high-altitude maneuvers.

With Shiayar already possessing 3-Ring capabilities and the spatial affinity boost from Shiny's Soul Pact, he could easily withstand the side effects of multiple Flashes.

However, Silvia was not a Beastmaster; her physical constitution was no different from that of an ordinary person.

Even more so, she had just suffered a substantial depletion of Life force, and her body was on the verge of collapse, barely hanging on by sheer willpower.

Experiencing another jolt from the spatial chaos, combined with being held again by someone she trusted, filled Silvia's body and Soul with an indescribable sense of security and satisfaction. This caused her last shred of persistence to fade, plunging her once more into unconsciousness.

Even so, Silvia's hands were still tightly clasping Shiayar's neck, unwilling to let go of this sole support even in her sleep.

Her pale face was devoid of color, dust-streaked, but her lips bore a tranquil and happy smile.

The instant Shiayar lifted her, the feeling of happiness once again filled Silvia's hollow heart.

She felt like she was once again the most cherished treasure in the world.

Even if she were to die quietly in Shiayar's arms, Silvia was without regrets and completely content.

"But I went through so much trouble to rescue you, even daring to treat a Peak 5-Ring powerful pro, or even a slumbering ancient god, as hypothetical adversaries—"

"It wasn't so that you could die in my arms with a smile of happiness."

Shiayar looked at the sweet smile on Silvia's face in his arms and shook his head slightly.

He crouched down and gently loosened the arms Silvia had wrapped around his neck.

He then placed the girl's soft body on the clean bed within the room.

Silvia was in a terrible state.

Although externally, the wound from the previous cut—which Shiayar had deliberately inflicted to avoid vital areas—had now been repaired by a Healing Potion.

But if one looked deeper, Silvia was like a doll that had been deflated.

The Bronze Crucifix's seal had already shattered, and the Twilight Divinity that filled it had been plundered and consumed by the sealing array below during the Godhood Ascension Ceremony.

Even though the ceremony was interrupted at the last minute, the damage to her Soul's origin had already occurred.

That flaw was like a bottomless black hole, constantly devouring the last remnants of Life force within Silvia.

Her life now flickered uncertainly, like a candle in the wind.

When that last wisp of Life force also dwindled away, Silvia's destiny would naturally reach its end.

Such was the so-called destiny of the key.

Once the door sealing the Ancient God Half-Body was open, the key, no longer needed, faced nothing but a broken end.

Flashes of light flickered.

Shiayar took one object after another out of the Spatial Pocket.

There were Healing Potions contained in glass vials, as well as scrolls sealed with Skills.

He unthinkingly smashed all the vials and tore up the scrolls that sealed healing Skills.

Either holy or emerald radiance lit up.

In an instant, the entire civilian house was filled with a dense vitality that was unimaginable, so much so that even the weeds outside began to grow wildly under the stimulation of this Life force.

Silvia's complexion also seemed slightly better in this surge of vitality, but it quickly turned dim again.

Her Life force continued to fade.

With a pace neither swift nor reversible, it ebbed away.

High-grade Healing Potions and Skills could treat physical wounds.

But facing defects at the core of the Soul, they could only provide temporary relief, still failing to address the root cause.

"If this were one of those single-player romance games I played in my previous life... then at this moment, the heroine would probably open her eyes one last time, miraculously, just before dying."

"Then, after completing the final farewell, pass away peacefully with a smile in the embrace of her loved one."

"Finally, cap it off with a line like 'Joy and sorrow, partings and reunions are all part of life, like the moon's waxing and waning – life is inherently flawed and imperfect,' to conclude the game under the players' barrage of criticism."

Shiayar couldn't help but laugh at himself in self-mockery.

Actually, he could easily walk away right now. The mission to stab Silvia in the back had been completed, and the task settlement popup had already appeared in Shiayar's mind; he just hadn't checked it yet. From the beginning, Shiayar's sole purpose for entering this Echo of History was to finish the novice task. Now that the purpose had been achieved, there wasn't much value left within this Echo of History. Rationally speaking, it wasn't worth the risk for Shiayar to continue his adventure. Moreover, to people in the real world, the Echo of History was just like a game. In Shiayar's previous life, becoming overly invested in a game's plot would undoubtedly earn one labels like "obsessed" or "in too deep." He could choose to quit the game right now, or accompany Silvia through the last stretch of her life, complete the game's Normal END, watch the tragic ending CG, and then leave. Once he exited the Echo of History, he naturally wouldn't need to worry about the raging floods in the Azure Garden Dukedom. After all, in the real-world timeline, this nation had already perished, leaving only a few brief lines in historical texts and ancient records.

"But, I'm just such a person who's insatiably greedy and loathes tragedy," Shiayar expressed in a silent murmur.

The saying goes, "All splendor experienced in life must eventually be repaid with loneliness." But he simply didn't want to become like the male lead in romance novels, who could only weep helplessly as his beloved girl died and lived the rest of his life in regretful loneliness, paying for his past brilliance with solitude. Even if later you became powerful, bathing in the Dragon King's blood and ascending to the throne, what's the point if the person is gone? Even if this is just an Echo of History, just a game. But since so much effort was put into preparation, the goal Shiayar sought was naturally only one.

He bent down, caressed Silvia's pale cheek, and wiped the Ashes and dust that had stained the girl's face.

The next moment, Shiayar's figure crumbled and disappeared from the civilian house, leaving only his unfinished words echoing in midair.

"So,"

"Let's turn this imperfect story—"

"Into the shape we hope for."