'Am I going crazy? I still feel so grounded. Maybe I'm too overconfident on that aspect. Maybe I'm a joke.'

"I know you want to believe me. Your instincts are truly impressive. Even being able to feel the root of my power is incredible. I can't believe that refinement of yours. You are a lucky bastard. If only more people could give up that nectar, maybe the future would be easier."

"I won't carry those expectations."

"Ah, not this again. I'm not insane, and I'll bet on it. I will bet on you. So if you get out and see my brother, remember that his tree is not that scary. Just avoid it. And remember that you might get to kill him if you can get everyone else out of his grasp."

"And then the True Heavens will be nothing, and we will all be free? Is this what you want?"

"No. He'll be free! And you'll be chained. Exactly what you want, isn't that?"

"And that's the best you could come up with?"

"Thanks. Even if you don't want it, I'm giving this to you. And you'll never forget it, or me! We might get to meet again or not, but you'll remember me. Ah, and if my charm overwhelms you, don't worry about me since I'm hard to kill. And you shouldn't worry about your brother either! His father, the fake Heavens, will take care of him. Joji will be fine, and he'll outlive all of us, so don't worry about him. Instead, you must worry about yourself first, so consider that you might need to do what you like!"

"Haha, you're now throwing it back at me. Is this revenge?"

"I love you. And I miss you. But don't hurt yourself, so get this over with. Just hold me, dear, too, maybe. And good luck!"

"You're so dramatic. You should just have descended normally. Wouldn't I talk with you more? Why this? I don't like this."

"Because with this, I can get what I like!"

"Liar."

Ben felt the guy wasn't being honest in the last sentence, but that was the last sentence he could hear.

He held as much as he could, but any second extra would likely mean the end of the world, so Ben Higgs chose to release the attack. And it destroyed the spell effortlessly since it didn't fight back at all.

Ben had stopped the implosion, but the cost was high. Yet, he acted like it didn't matter.

Once the spell halted, the rules set around, without their master, started acting on their own. The whole setup began erasing itself while Ben stood there watching it.

"I really don't like this." Ben's voice was crackling.

'This doesn't feel like a lucky encounter either... It was just someone leaving me their dirty clothes. Why do I only have difficult choices?'

However, since everything was on the line, Ben couldn't hesitate, so he held onto his instincts.

"You may say all that. But then you still didn't hesitate to throw shit on my plate. Why? I thought we were friends back then. And I missed you. What should I feel now?"

'I don't know what to feel or make out of this. If Pel can truly see everything, he must know I can't leave like that. That would be a cease to exist sentence. Is this merely a silly show? If his objective was to shock me, then he did it.'

They knew each other, or at least their personas did. The creature might still be lying, but every word it spoke shook Ben's heart since he knew him too well. So, somehow, deep down, Ben believed him.

"Can I even be angry? We just played the same game. How ironic."

A big smile appeared on Ben's face. Although, due to his conflicting feelings, it was a weird smile.

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"I merely don't want to forget. Yet, no one offers me how. And it seems you couldn't either."

"We're both crazy bastards," Ben whispered.

"We both talk like we don't fear death. Yet, we fear that the most."

Ben's expression became cold as his seal rapidly went back into place. He was too tired to deal with this bullshit. So, he went back into being just a puppet.

The room magically went back to a forgettable state. There was no trace of the trapped existence nor the remains on the floor. The spell was gone too.

All those things only existed now in Ben's fleeting memory, sealed away, as shielded as Ben could make it.

And the world outside was completely unaware of how, at this instant, they all almost died.

If only Ben hesitated for a bit longer.

---

"I'm such an asshole. What do I mean? I take over, that's fine. The price is worth it since who knew what would happen. But why am I even keeping everything hidden away? I don't get it! AGH!"

Once he came to his mind again, Ben saw nothing worth around. And he was perplexed why he sealed every bit of information away and didn't even leave any new instinct.

"Does it mean this is fine? Well, there is indeed enough on my plate already. If I'm acting like that, I won't care then. I'll do whatever is needed and get it over with."

Finding his way out, Ben had to slowly walk out of the dungeon since the monsters appeared again after Pel was gone.

---

"You caused a lot of drama." Matt joked.

"Is Ginn sad that he couldn't see much?"

"Ha, haha! In a way, he is! I'm surprised he didn't come to pick you up."

"How are the surroundings?"

"It's fine. I just killed a few cockroaches here and there. But I couldn't find many since most of them ran away as they couldn't do much anymore. So, I don't think you should be this scared. Anyway, old man, what did you do back then?"

"Have you read the intel?"

"Dinna summarized it to me."

"They got someone to be an anchor for the ritual. That way, the fixed array doesn't need to be as complicated or expensive. Well, the price is insane, though. In addition, not every array can have that, but mobility is often worth it. But there is a big drawback. If you kill them, the array receives a lot of damage, which would result in a lot more resource and time wasted than when that happens to a fixed array."

"No wonder you jumped out. I didn't think you were this daring."

"Normally, I ain't. But I have some excess lifeline to burn. And I feel like I can take such a risk since I'm betting on you guys anyway. Hopefully, it pays back."

"Eloise was worried."

"Well, It wasn't me who rooted her there."

"Yeah, she was angry. But even once we took over, we couldn't find anything."

"Expected. Why would they leave anything behind? And nothing of this is new, either. It just became even more complicated since there is mobility involved. Ah, I'm tired so let's go back since I need to rest."

"The kid you sent was a mess."

"I know. Pax was lucky."

They walked out of the dungeon while talking about the results of the war.

In addition, Ben also informed the red-haired guy about the situation with the monsters inside the dungeon. The Dragons must have got the news from Pax already, but Ben gave a better description of the others floors too.

Their travel back was uneventful. The enemies had all retreated without giving Ben any new trouble.

...

"Manu, I'll leave the old man with you. I've way better things to do than keep wasting my time here! Bye!" Matt said as he ran away.

"Sorry. Are you feeling fine, Sir?"

"I'm just tired."

"Is your arm broken? What can I help you with?"

"No. It's a consequence of the techniques I used. Don't mind it. Just help me get something to hold my arm since it'll take a while to fix."

"Okay, I can help with that. But I would also like to ask you to allow me to help you with the tiredness. I can finish a basic treatment in my lab within six hours. Is that okay with you?"

After giving it some thought, Ben responded. "Yes. It's fine. I'll take it. It should help."

---

While walking to Manu's laboratory, despite the victory, the sight Ben found around was quite depressed.

Their losses were much higher than they expected.

The world was cruel, and they all knew it, but losing friends never became easy.

---

The treatment happened smoothly.

While that was happening, a couple of people came to get news about Ben's state.

Manuella quickly sent the information that he was in a good state, although very exhausted.

Despite losing control over one arm, there didn't seem to have any other urgent matter to treat.

She also informed whatever Ben told her about how he could act by burning his life span. And she collected some superficial read of his state to confirm that information. Although she didn't dare to dig in too much, she only took enough notes to calm down everyone.

'He likely only accepted this to ease our mind. But while he didn't need this, I believe he's understating the price he paid. His impact was too great. We would've won anyway, but it wouldn't be that fast, and we wouldn't have dug that much. I wonder if Eloise will successfully convince her family. I hope she does. Since it sounds catastrophic, and it sounds even worse than Ginn could speculate.' Manu spent her time lost in her thoughts.

The treatment that would take six hours ended up taking twelve.

But even then, Manu still attended the whole treatment by herself since the fewer people knew about his state, the better. She understood that while they were all companions, the only way to avoid leaks about Ben's longevity was to keep the secret herself.