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Silvia turned back in time to catch a little figure that had jumped toward her.

"Mother..." Rita burst into tears, as she finally released all the emotions that had been choking her.

The two twin sais in Silver's hands disappeared before she gently hugged her daughter.

Lightly running her hand down her back before repeating it, Silvia looked at Arthur who was still on his knees.

Now that everything seemed to have settled, the feeling of loss suddenly hit the two little kids again.

Hearing the murmur within her embrace, Silvia smoothly adjusted her body so she could hear her daughter's words.

"...I almost died. And it was three times."

Hearing this, a glint of anger flashed within Silvia's sky-blue eyes ever so briefly, but she still listened silently.

"I-I..."

"I...Mia..." Not able to form coherent words, Rita broke down completely in tears.

Silvia looked at her daughter, then at Arthur before shifting her gaze to Wale and his servant who was still in his embrace.

After that, she calmly evaluated the state of the battlefield.

Most of the buildings were all crumbled, while those at the farther reach still had their top sliced off.

Looking at the numerous corpses that littered the ground, and the dried blood that still leaked from them ever so slightly, she whispered, "You both did well by surviving!"

.....

After handing the matters to one of the Dukes and the royal army that had arrived some minutes after her, Silvia wanted to take Rita and Arthur back to the palace.

All she wanted was for the two kids to rest, perhaps that would wipe off the gloomy air around them. However, Rita vehemently refused and demanded for them to make a final stop first.

Silvia didn't mind her request, as she planned on staying with her, however, her interest was piqued when she saw Arthur tremble before his face paled when Rita made the demand.

After learning that Wale was from an ancient family, and a special one at that, Silvia offered for them to be treated at the palace, but Wale politely refused.

After giving them some aid, Silvia sent them on their way with some escort to protect them until they reached home.

Until now, she didn't ask any questions about what happened, and while the duke and the general commander of the Royal army were trying to figure out what happened, Silvia told them off.

She could see her daughter had taken a hit from the series of events that took place in her absence.

Until she had regained her composure, at least to an acceptable limit, Silvia wouldn't allow her to be subjected to anything that could rile her emotions up.

.....

Some distance from the city.

Arthur and Rita stood before a small building.

Silvia stood some distance behind them, as she watched the two kids continue to stand before the door for several minutes.

After what looked like an eternity, Arthur slowly raised his hand, his body trembled slightly before he planted a knock on the door.

The knock was barely audible, but even with that his body deflated as if it had taken all his energy.

A few seconds later.

"Yes!"

A voice resounded from inside the house.

If the two were in a normal state, they would have noticed the voice didn't sound elderly at all.

Instead hearing the voice caused their hearts to be gripped, while their bodies trembled.

Two lines of tears slowly fell down Rita's face as she bit down on her lips in order to stop herself from completely breaking down.

A few moments later.

The door opened as a middle-aged woman appeared before Rita, Arthur, and Silvia who was standing further away.

Even with the sides of her eyes slightly wrinkled, the woman appeared to have quite the appearance.

Together with the kind expression on her face, she seemed lovable and approachable by all.

With a smile on her face, Dora's former mum spoke:

"How may I help you?"

Looking at Rita's face, she couldn't help but feel surprised.

She thought her previous daughter was the very definition of beautiful but the girl before her shattered those thoughts right away.

The boy also appeared to be quite the good-looking type, and even though the face of the woman behind was covered by a veil, she could tell from her dressing and bearing that she was no ordinary person.

So she didn't dare to slip and instead put on her best approachable expression.

Arthur looked at the woman before him before asking the first thing that came to his mind, "Where is grandma?"

The expression on Dora's former mother froze ever so briefly before she quickly collected herself.

She had asked the old woman if she had any relatives, but she had said she only lived with her granddaughter.

So seeing these people were kind of related to her caught her off guard.

But luckily she was able to compose herself in time.

While Arthur and Rita were oblivious to what happened, a light frown appeared on Silvia's face hidden behind the veil.

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"She is in the kitchen. Please come inside while I call her for you."

Arthur and Rita entered the house, however, Silvia remained outside.

Seeing that she didn't seem to want to enter, Dora's former mum closes the door.

Silvia released her divine sense before covering the entire house with it.

A human mage could never release their divine sense from their body but she was no ordinary human.

Dora's former mother had planned on settling the kids before quickly going to the old woman and giving a mouthful.

But who would have thought that the kids would just waltz right into the kitchen?

Arthur was the first to enter the kitchen, and even before entering, he could hear the smooth humming coming from the kitchen.

Grandma turned back with a bowl in her hand only to see Arthur and Rita walk into the kitchen.

Her body jolted a bit before she collected herself.

Using her free hand to pat her chest, she chided:

"You scared me there." Soon a smile appeared on her face, "You kids took longer than usual. let me guess Mia forced you to play in the city for some time?" She shook her head as she seemed sure of what she said rather than a question.

Arthur walked with slow steps before he reached her front.

With a putong he knelt on the ground, his head lowered.

Without saying anything he remained in that position.

Baffled, Grandma was just about to ask what was going on when Rita suddenly walked to Arthur's side.

While she didn't go on her knees, her head was similarly lowered.

"What is going on!?" now really surprised at the two's behavior, Grandma couldn't help but ask.

Not receiving any reply, Grandma suddenly realized something very important.

So with a quivering voice, she asked, "Where is my granddaughter?"

To the question, Rita choked sobs resounded out.

*Crash*

The bowl fell from her hands causing some of the liquid to spill on the kneeling Arthur.

Looking at the two kids in front, Grandma asked once again, this time her voice eerily calm yet lowered.

"Where is Mia?"

Rita broke completely into tears as she covered her face with her hands, causing the tears to leak from the gaps.

Clenching his teeth, Arthur choked out with red eyes, "...dead."

Hearing that response, Grandma was stunned on the spot.

Her eyes grew dull, and something seemed to have cracked deep within her.

A second later...

Two lines of blood fell down her eyes, and looking at the little kids before her, she spoke words the little kids didn't expect to hear:

"Help me!"

A trace of panic appeared on the face of Dora's former mother.

She didn't understand how such a thing was possible but soon later her eyes flashed with resolve.

Quickly running toward the side, she quickly grabbed a knife before pouncing at the still oblivious kids.

The front door snapped open before a golden light flashed in the kitchen.

Soon after, a head flew into the air, splashing blood in all directions.

Perceiving the metallic smell of blood, both Arthur and Rita raised their heads to see wasps of evil energy being released from Grandma's body.

Her face was scrunched up in pain, and a second later, one of her eyeballs popped out.

The evil energy in her body was wreaking havoc in her body.

For forcefully revealing herself and going against her master's will, she was being punished in the gravest way possible.

She was already condemned to death.

"Grandma!" Rita screamed in horror.

She quickly tried to use her powers on her but for the first time ever, her power failed her.

Coughing a mouthful of black blood, Grandma fell down on her back.

Looking at the ceiling through her remaining eye, the image of her last relative flashed in her head and lingered.

"...Mia..."

All these years, she was already tired of living.

Her love had left her a long time ago.

Less than a decade ago, her only son also left her, together with his wife.

She was tired but held strong for something...

No, for someone...

Mia.

In the end, she also left her.

Was she cursed?

Feeling her head being lifted, Grandma was pulled out of her last thoughts.

She could already feel the evil energy in her body attacking her remaining eye.

As her vision clouded over, the last thing she saw was Arthur's pale face, and the tears held forcefully within his eyes.

"...Live..." She whispered as she lifted her hand to touch his face only for her remaining eyes to pop out, causing her face to scrunch in pain and a groan to escape her pale lips.

*Crack!*

A snapping sound echoed loudly in the kitchen, followed by Grandma's trembling body going still.

Setting her head straight, Arthur whispered...

"I am sorry! It's all my fault."

A flash of pain flashed within Silvia's eyes.

She wanted to give the kids a few moments before sending the elderly woman away as less painfully as possible.

Little did she expect Arthur to kill her himself.

She regretted not acting soon enough.

Arthur looked at his palms silently. This was the first time he took a life.

Rita fell into Silvia's embrace and cried her eyes out.

A few moments later, the image of Dean flashed in her mind causing a thick aura of killing intent to surround her.

Looking at her daughter, Silvia sighed.

.....

Two days later.

At the Goldsborn palace.

Silvia approached Arthur who was sitting, looking lost at the flowers that swayed in the wind.

This was an open space where flowers of beautiful kinds were planted.

Ever since she brought Arthur into the palace two days ago, he would always come here to spend his time

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Arthur turned around to see Silvia wearing a red dress that accentuated her figure.

She didn't have a veil covering her face.

Even though he had already seen her face the day before, his eyes still lingered on her visage as he took in the symmetrically crafted face.

He didn't know a woman could be so beautiful.

'So Rita will also grow to be like her or even more...'

His heart sped up at the idea of a more stunning version of Silvia.

"Ouch!" he was pulled out of his thoughts as he rubbed his flicked forehead.

"What do you think you are looking at?" An amused smile graced Silvia's face, causing Arthur to turn his head aside not to be mesmerized by her beauty.

Seeing Arthur turn, a weird glint flashed in her eyes. While it seemed Arthur had reverted to his normal self, she knew that was far from the truth.

"Have you spoken to Rita?" She asked as she sat beside him on the grassy ground.

"No..."

"And why is that?"

"...she seems to be avoiding me."

"And you think it's because she is angry with you?"

Arthur didn't respond as that was exactly how he felt.

"While that might be part of the reason, there is something more important."

Arthur looked at her once again and couldn't help but appreciate her beauty.

Looking forward, Silvia whispered, "You must have seen her powers, right?"

Not waiting for Arthur to reply, she asked another question, this time looking him right in the eyes, "And are you afraid of her?"

Arthur seemed genuinely confused as he asked back, "And why would I be?"

A rare gentle smile lit Silvia's face.

Ruffling Arthur's head against his disgruntlement, she said:

"I have decided. You are going to be my first and only student. Follow me."

Looking at her back, a weird sensation filled Arthur's heart, 'Is this how having a mother feels like?'

.....

Standing in front of a massive rack filled with various types of weapons, Arthur appeared to be lost as he listened carefully to Silvia who was standing behind him.

"After hearing the full report of what happened, I can tell your weakness."

"While I don't know your talent level, there is a high chance it is equal to mine, which should be impossible."

"But that would explain why you are able to use the weak-perceived space laws as a medium of attack and even defense."

"However, what you greatly lack is a weapon."

"While the other boy used a scythe, you used your bare hands which placed you at a disadvantage."

"I want you to choose a weapon carefully because once you do, I will never allow you to change it."

Arthur stood still for three minutes before he made up his mind.

Stretching his hand out, he touched a golden spear.

Silvia smiled, 'You have chosen the path of an emperor...huh?'

"Swing the spear around and grow a feel for it. Training starts tomorrow."

As much as she wanted to start the training today, she needed to look into the cases of evil energy appearing in different cities.

It seemed the destruction Dean had caused was far greater than it looked from the outside.

But for now, she didn't want her daughter and Arthur to be involved.

Seeing Arthur caress the spear, she chuckled before turning around to leave.

"May I ask about the bracelet on your wrist? I saw Rita wear one too." suddenly Arthur's voice drifted into her ears.

Silvia stopped.

Looking at the rainbow-colored bracelet on her wrist, Silvia smiled, "It is the same bracelet you saw. She returned it yesterday as she has no more need for it. Its name is Pandora and it's the last gift given to me by my late father..."

At the end of her words, she had resumed walking.

What Arthur didn't know was that the father she was talking about wasn't her biological father, but a wandering man who had taken her in when she was but a small girl.

He was the greatest blacksmith to ever live.

The creator of the only disaster-class weapon...PANDORA.

However, he died for her sake.

But that is a story for another time.

.....

On the other side of the dark universe.

Dean stood within the main hall of one of the branches of the adventurers guild.

Looking at the only available A quest placed on the quest board, a weird glint flashed within his eyes.

The quest said: Investigate the cause of the recently destroyed cities. A strange energy user who is rumored to be able to corrupt people is involved. Proceed with caution.

Picking the quest Dean walked to a counter where Dora was already waiting for him.

A glint of hatred flashed in his eyes.

"This is only the beginning!"