Chapter 1378: 136. Alarm! Alarm!

"So in the end, I basically took a bullet for her?"

The corner of Muen's mouth twitched slightly.

What was this supposed to be?

Had his bad luck actually defeated the good luck of a Child of Destiny?

Originally, the protagonist was supposed to arrive at the Origin Tower, come into contact with the grudges and entanglements of the previous generation, undergo a classic life-or-death trial here, and conveniently receive some equipment along the way......

But because there was now an extra yellow-haired villain like him, the life-or-death crisis had been drawn toward him like a huge chunk of iron toward a magnet and landed directly on his head, while the equipment that should have dropped for the original protagonist......

"Of course I'm still giving it to her. We've come this far—what, am I supposed to dump her now?"

Muen sighed helplessly.

He did not feel any regret over stealing what should have been Ariel's storyline as the original protagonist, because after everything he had been through, he had finally seen things clearly......as the darling of the world, Ariel had no shortage of trials or opportunities to become stronger.

This trial had landed on his head through a strange combination of circumstances, but Ariel could simply explore a couple more ruins afterward and make up for all of it.

Maybe even him taking the bullet for her had been part of some arrangement in the unseen workings of fate.

Because according to the normal course of events, Ariel should not have come to the Origin Tower this early. If he had not wanted someone to accompany him into the pit......someone to share both hardship and happiness with, Ariel would not have come this time either.

"So in the end......"

It was all that old hag's fault!

That's right. If that old bastard had not screwed him over, how could so many things have gotten tangled into such a complete mess?

As for whether that old hag had anticipated that the Enhancement School was still hiding this kind of grudge from the past......

He did not care. In any case, from now on, no matter what bizarre problem occurred in the Origin Tower, he would just dump the blame on that old bastard who loved pretending to be young.

Although his current strength was still a little lacking and he could not punish her for the time being, at least it would make him feel much better, wouldn't it?

......There was no helping it. If he kept getting screwed over like this and did not find some way to make peace with himself, sooner or later he was going to bottle it all up until he turned into a pervert.

"All right. No matter what, this was only a minor episode, and thanks to Mr. Huggins's brilliant calculations, it probably won't cause any disturbance for the time being, nor will it affect my next move."

After routinely stabbing a little voodoo doll of a certain damned old hag inside his head, Muen casually put away the Void Eye. Then, after once again confirming that there was no second living creature anywhere around him and no possibility whatsoever that anyone was spying on him, he finally relaxed completely and quickly left.

Passing through the corridor Huggins had so carefully prepared, he soon reached a much more spacious area.

Although the Origin Tower did not look as imposing from the outside as Muen had imagined, its interior was undoubtedly enormous. That much could be seen from the fact that even a school as close to abandonment as the Enhancement School could occupy such a vast area.

And as the space around him grew wider, Muen gradually began encountering other people from the Origin Tower.

Most of them were young mages hurrying back and forth.

Perhaps in consideration of the frail physiques of mages, flying was not prohibited anywhere inside the Origin Tower, so Muen saw many mages simply streaking directly over his head.

At first, Muen's appearance did not cause any particular reaction. After all, although his mage's robe was somewhat tattered at the moment, the Origin Tower was full of mages who had only just blown themselves head over heels across their laboratories, so his slightly disheveled appearance was hardly enough to attract anyone's attention.

But gradually, Muen began to realize that something was wrong.

He could clearly sense more and more gazes falling on him. Later, people even seemed to be faintly forming a crowd around him, all kinds of eyes shooting toward him from every direction.

But whenever Muen looked over, those gazes would quickly turn away, whether out of fear or respect.

"Looks like Huggins wasn't wrong about that either......"

Muen smiled bitterly. "I suppose I'm pretty famous in the Tower now."

He had gone a little too far before......

So perhaps he should not have knocked Jerome down with a single punch and should instead have "fought fiercely" with him for a few more rounds?

It seemed that as a reserved man who was not very good at creating conflicts, he still had not quite mastered the proper degree of being "high-profile."

Better get out of here first.

Realizing that staying any longer would definitely lead to more unnecessary trouble, Muen's figure flashed as he immediately accelerated and left the area.

......

......

After returning to the floor belonging to the Enhancement School, Muen immediately noticed that the place was somewhat different from before.

The naturally grown jungle was still there, but someone had clearly tended to it, clearing out a small path that people could use to pass through without having to scramble through the forest like savages as they had before.

The enormous "natural lighting point" in the wall was still there, but the other smaller damaged sections had all been repaired. Even the moss on the walls had been completely removed, and the classrooms had become clean and orderly. The place finally looked somewhat like a proper school.

The moment Muen stepped into one of the classrooms, however, his vision blurred, and a soft, fragrant body instantly crashed into his arms.

With no cushioning whatsoever, the impact nearly made him stagger. Fortunately, he had already expected this, and he opened his arms and caught her steadily.

"Hmph."

The familiar figure hugged him tightly, greedily breathing in his scent while her little hands restlessly searched across his body. Finally, they found that vulnerable spot and gave it a hard twist.

"So you do know how to come back? I was starting to think you'd died out there."

"Hiss——"

Muen winced in pain, but the tenderness in his heart only grew stronger. He hurriedly soothed her. "Didn't anyone tell you? I was put in confinement. I wanted to come back sooner too, but there was nothing I could do......besides, it's only been three days."

"Hmph, three days. Isn't three days long?"

Ariel raised her head and glanced at Muen before suddenly turning away and muttering, "When you're not here, even three days is hard to endure......"

"Oh? Since when did my Ariel get so good at acting spoiled?"

Muen stared in surprise at the adorable girl in front of him and could not resist lightly flicking the tip of her nose.

"Get lost, get lost, get lost."

Ariel shoved Muen away and bared her little canine teeth like a kitten whose fur had puffed up. "What do you mean, acting spoiled? Can't you see I'm expressing my dissatisfaction with you?!"

"Is that so? To think I actually made my adorable Ariel unhappy. Looks like I'll have to accept punishment later."

Muen spoke with a completely serious expression.

Although he did not say what kind of punishment he meant, apparently that was already enough to inspire endless imagination......Ariel secretly glanced at him, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"All right, don't be angry anymore. Let's get back to business. I've got something good to show you."

Muen pulled Ariel back into his arms and vigorously rubbed her head.

"What good thing?" Ariel's eyes immediately lit up. The moment she heard her favorite kind of words, the little temper from just now was instantly thrown beyond the clouds.

"This."

Muen directly handed the Void Eye to Ariel.

"What is this?"

The appearance of the Void Eye was simply too strange, and there was no particular aura coming from it either. Even with Ariel's sharp eye for treasure, she could not figure out what it was for a moment.

"If you don't recognize it, maybe you can have your teacher come out. She might know."

"Teacher?"

Ariel froze, not understanding how this had anything to do with her teacher.

But before she could react, she felt the ancient bronze ring on her finger tremble slightly. Immediately afterward, wisps of green smoke drifted out and condensed into a graceful figure.

"Huh? Teacher? Why did you......"

Ariel was somewhat surprised. This was the first time she had seen her teacher appear so directly in front of a third person besides herself.

Even though Muen could hardly be considered a stranger to them anymore......he had already seen everything there was to see.

"......"

Faced with Ariel's confusion, Peles said nothing. Her eyes were fixed directly on the Void Eye. Her words seemed to freeze for a moment before she finally spoke, a slight tremor in her voice.

"This is......the Void Eye?"

"You recognize it......then it really was that guy who got it from you."

Muen smiled. "That's right. This is the Void Eye."

"How is it in your hands? Wasn't it......"

Peles raised a hand and beckoned. The Void Eye immediately flew into her hazy palm. Her soul power swept across it, confirming that this truly was the ancient relic she had once lost—the Void Eye.

It was not because she did not trust the man in front of her.

It was just......the sudden appearance of this object felt far too unreal to her.

"It's a long story......but to summarize it simply, a certain someone accidentally mistook me for your disciple, then took advantage of my lack of preparation and launched an utterly shameless sneak attack on me."

Muen gestured animatedly as he spoke. "Unfortunately, that guy calculated everything except for my formidable magical ability. I directly counter-killed him with magic, and this thing ended up in my hands."

"Formidable......magical ability?" Ariel, standing beside him, gave him a strange look. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Ahem, don't get hung up on insignificant details. All you need to know is that I defeated the guy easily."

Muen gave a dry cough, pointed toward the Void Eye, then turned back toward Peles. "As for you......if you don't believe me, you can go see for yourself first. I imagine you'd very much like to see that scene."

"No......there's no need. Not for now."

Peles shook her head slightly.

"I know him. He would never willingly hand something like this over to someone else. He would only ever use it personally. If this thing has ended up in your hands, then that can only mean one thing......"

That man......

That eternal wound in her heart......

Had lost just like that......

And just like that......he had fallen back into her hands.

"How could......it happen so suddenly......I only mentioned him not long ago......"

Peles lowered her head, momentarily unsure what expression she should make.

Holding the Void Eye, although she had no sense of touch, the existence perceived through her soul reached her heart even more easily.

Those distant scenes that had surfaced in her mind only recently once again appeared before her......

After violating some taboo, she had been left gravely wounded and wandering somewhere on the continent when she rescued a blood-covered boy from a pile of corpses.

She valued his talent, accepted him as her disciple, and used all of her sincerity and all of her knowledge to teach him and guide him, hoping that he could ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) travel farther down that path than she ever had......

But she had never expected that everything she gave would ultimately earn her nothing but betrayal.

More painful than having her physical body completely destroyed and being forced to cling to existence as a soul through a special magical device was the stab in the back delivered by the person she had once valued most.

That wound had continued tearing at her heart until not long ago.

......But who could have known?

Fate was simply that strange. Without warning, that wound had suddenly begun showing signs of healing.

Because the one and only medicine capable of healing it was now......right there in her hand.

"Don't worry. I didn't kill him. I thought something like this should still be left for you to decide personally," Muen said softly.

"Mm. Thank you."

Peles nodded slightly.

Her gaze gradually shifted from the Void Eye in her hand to Muen.

Although she was still nothing more than a hazy mass of smoke, an indescribable light suddenly flowed through her beautiful eyes as they moved......and then that light reflected the person before her.

Before, she had found this brat extremely annoying for stealing away her precious disciple, but looking at him now......he really was rather handsome.

No wonder Ariel was so infatuated with him.

"What exactly are you two talking about?"

Ariel was still completely lost, unable to make sense of the riddling conversation between the two of them.

But at that moment, she suddenly shuddered with extraordinary sensitivity, as though an electric current had shot straight through her body.

"Hm?"

Ariel looked at Muen, then at her teacher. Her suspicious gaze began moving back and forth between the two of them......

Her man-stealer radar......was sounding the alarm!