The crimson aura disappears, and I stagger.

(I deactivated the spells. You almost reached the limit,) Maxi says, and the crown halts.

Before I fall to the sea, I unleash waves of power in a steady stream, trying to fly. It's clumsy, especially compared to before.

Mind Strengthening is amazing. It enhanced my cognitive abilities to such a degree that I could handle my powers perfectly, even on levels I never experienced. Mind Acceleration helped as well, and the two together worked so well.

The two mind spells both help me, but whereas the latter stretches time, giving me more time to act and consolidate the spell or technique, the former makes multitasking easier, spending less effort.

In essence, both raise the quality of my actions, but Mind Acceleration spends more mental energy for an action and Mind Strengthening spends less for the same result.

(You quickly got the hand of it.)

(Shut up.) I retort. He spoke with a monotonous, emotionless voice, but I got the sarcasm.

I lose my balance and slip, compensating it with a strong burst up only to fall again.

Flying is hard.

After several minutes, I reach the coast.

Frankly, it's bad. The aftermath of our clash sent waves and gusts, even space ripples, devastating the area. I can see that both Silvia and an exhausted Elizabeth are protecting the city with my formations. I did focus on barriers, fearing this result. I'm a genius.

“Hey, is everyone alright?”

“We are alright. Scarlet, Barkus, and a guy called Ragna defeated the demons.” Silvia comes forward, and I ignore the weird stare Elizabeth gives me. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I didn't have a single scratch. Apparently, I got a hidden power or something. Something really cool.”

“I see.”

I can hear the cogs spinning in her head. Maybe seeing the level of a battle that could be considered of the highest magnitude got her to understand how far off she is.

Well, she is taking strides and becoming so much stronger. I can see that rather than growing in quantity, she improves the quality of her abilities. Silvia got a knack for this. She also uses Primordial Wind much more.

Elizabeth, who was quite until now, speaks. “I need to go report this to the king. Scarlet, make sure Ragna doesn't cause troubles. Silvia, tidy things up here.” Then she looks at me. “You come with me.”

They nod, and I offer my hand. I say nothing as she grabs me.

We teleport inside the castle. Elizabeth is either bypassing the anti-teleportation barriers, or it was set to grant her access; maybe she was the one to do it too.

Man, I want to learn teleportation too.

I know the formula by heart, but it straight up refuses to activate. I'm not sure what I am missing.

(Maximillian, teach me your weird teleportation.) I request as we head to request an audience with the king.

(Okay,) he agrees immediately, to my surprise. (I need to explain psionic energy and how to produce it first, so wait for later.)

(I see. So you can counter it easily.)

(Yes,) Maxi admits.

How cheeky.

We enter the audience chamber, where I see the king and queen. They look tense, a bit worried.

Did we interrupt something?

“Elizabeth,” King Alden starts. “Did something happen at the dungeon?”

“I cleared the dungeon, but there was an unexpected interference.” I let my emotions fade as I speak before grasping them again.

The crown is held in my hand. It would be stupid to don a crown in front of a king.

“Demons have attacked.” Elizabeth takes over, starting her explanation.

The appearance of a witch, then the attack of the demons. She explains my preparations as the reason for her interference and the reason there were no casualties. When she reaches the part about Darky, I notice a mixture of emotions, but she continues in a matter-of-fact tone.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

King Alden ponders in silence, processing the chain of events that transpired. “A strong enemy that could even beat the Sage, but Ark managed to defeat him. Of course, I do not underestimate your ability, but is there a chance he wasn't killed? He had immortal in his name, after all.”

Right, an immortal.

After our fight, that seems pretty accurate. His black flames were as peculiar as my crimson aura, albeit of lower quality.

He could actually be alive.

“If he is alive and still just as strong, then no one here can kill him. But even if that's the case, I would just kill him again.”

The queen, whatever her name is, speaks for the first time, “But if you two clash near a city, there will be thousands of casualties.”

Who cares?

“Oh well, if we end up fighting again, I will kill him in a single attack before he does something.”

They look at me with dubious expressions, but I ignore it.

“There is also the possibility he was merely a subordinate of someone else, or a fake,” the king mutters.

Yeah, the only proof otherwise is just us being alive. Totally circumstantial. As if a being stronger than that would send others when they are stronger than a Demon King.

The audience ends, and I turn to leave the room before the queen speaks to me. “Ark, might you accompany me? I have a small matter to discuss with you.”

I nod. From what I can read, she masks her concern, but it seems to be pretty serious. Her intentions are “asking for my help” and “protecting her child,” if I were to put it in words.

“Ah, Commander, the creator of the dungeon apparently possessed a peculiar attribute— mind. You should head there to check if you could get it, but shield your mind from interferences before you go.”

Elizabeth, who was in the middle of saying something to the king, turns to me and quickly teleports, probably to the dungeon.

The king is baffled, quite an amusing sight.

The queen next to me chuckles. “It's always like this with her.”

Elizabeth isn't a native of this kingdom, and she is only staying here because of a personal decision I don't know about, but it seems she has cultivated good relations without using her status.

We go down the halls. There are royal knights following us, but they are relatively far. I construct a soundproof barrier and let my emotions wane.

It's a weird feeling, but it seems to help me calm down.

Still, I don't like it one bit, and I won't be using it unless there is no choice. I know it takes a fraction of my mental capacity to grasp, but I am willing to make this sacrifice.

(This is fucked up.) Maximillian examines my brain upon my request. (Your brain simply stopped producing the chemicals that create your emotions. I could do it with magic, but it shouldn't be possible to do it manually like that.)

I grasp it again, so slippery, as if it would slip away if I am not careful. (It's your fault. I have been like this since that white-sword subspace challenge.)

“Did something ruin your mood?” the queen asks, seeing the annoyance that flickers in my eyes.

“No.”

“Then may I begin to speak? It's a problem you have no need to deal with in your position, so I'm a bit embarrassed.”

I nod.

“My Iris is having nightmares recently. She cries and screams at night. She recently stopped sleeping at all, and she is very depressed. My daughter likes you very much. Could you please cheer her up?”

The princess, huh? She is an odd little creature. It sounds like a silly request—a 180-degree turnaround after just splitting clouds and shattering space—but it might be serious.

“I will try.” I nod seriously. “I have an effective method to deal with nightmares, too.”

“Thank you. I was worried you would refuse, but I tried because you seemed to be in a good mood.”

“Today was very productive.”

I have so much stuff to do from everything I have learned today. Practicing Mind Strengthening and milking Maximillian of every drop of knowledge he got. Also, training with the crown to stack a few thousands of concept slashes—it's barely grown all this time since my limit was once a day, and without relying on strength I wouldn't have been able to cut Darky.

Even before today, I needed to get used to my Void Spirit. It barely listens to me without infusing Phantom. And channeling destructive and killing intents, which I found by accident, opened up a new world of possibilities.

And the new Praesidium series combined with elements synchronization and circuit strengthening and...

Wow, it really is a lot. Breathe. In and out. In and out.

Do I really have time to spare? I have no problem abandoning the princess. I know I won't care even if she dies.

Oh shit, I already said yes.

Okay, whatever.

I channel mana from my core into the circuits, compress it, and circulate it. My body is heating up. It hurts like a bitch, and mana is leaking and dispersing.

When we arrive at the princess's chamber, I see Kierra walking nervously back and forth, and the guard that is always by the princess is standing there, masking his anxiety rather poorly.

“What are you doing here?” Kierra asks without even offering a greeting. How rude.

“Kierra!” Her mother scolds her.

“If you speak to me so rudely, don't bother opening your mouth.” The looks I'm getting now are amusing. “You are boring, and I don't feel like talking to you. I'm only here for the princess anyway.”

Her attention diverts to the queen, and she is shocked to see her mother saying nothing.

“Hey, you,” I call the guard. “Move aside so I can enter.”

“I was ordered not to allow anyone to enter. My apologies, but you would have to... wait...”

I am already inside though.

I made him focus on his own words to the point he lost track of me entering. I lock the door.

The room is dark, lit by dim, tiny lights. Iris, sitting on the bed covered in a blanket, looks at me with eyes that have lost almost all light.

Her intent is brimming with thoughts of death, her final rest, and it spirals and breaks into fragments. It's proof she is losing her mind.

Oh boy, this is really bad.

I stop circulating mana and focus fully on reading her with Phantom.

Something is moving inside her eyes, as if she recalls a memory, and I sense her intent fracturing even further. She is dying, decayed by something inside.

It's terrifying.

“There is no need to bother with me,” she says simply.

She has given up, awaiting her imminent death.

No, she undoubtedly will die, but it's as if there is something beyond it. As if she tries to outlast what's killing her even after death—no, countless deaths.

But she doesn't want my help. She doesn't want my help anymore.

The princess is despairing without giving up.

“I will end it. No matter what, this will be the last time, whether it's by healing or killing you, I promise.”

I didn't say that I would save her no matter what. I don't blindly believe I could heal whatever this is.

I merely promised her an end.

But that is what she needed most; I know it.

Iris breaks down in tears, clinging to my chest as if it were something she had done countless times before.