Chapter 682: Where Trust Ends [Monthly Bonus 2]
D-Day, November 30th was here.
Arthur headed to meet Rachel as planned.
On his way, he set up magic circles across various points in Aramisian territory to serve as the points where the Demon Armies would be summoned, the magic stones Alvey and McEnda had provided fuelling their activation.
As he worked, his thoughts wandered to the other three members of his usual quartet—Artemisia, Evan, and Beatrix.
Right now, they were on Aidos.
For context, Artemisia was conducting an experiment where she was trying to upgrade her Divine Spark.
This was why she had told Beatrix to ask for the Titan god’s Divine Spark a week ago. However, her experiment had failed.
She theorised there were three reasons why it failed.
Either her level was too low to gather the right amount of Evolution law energy, the power of the divine spark she had chosen was simply too much for the current her, or the fact that the divine spark she was trying to use was from an existence that had been dead for too long.
Determined to find a solution, Artemisia decided to alter the variables in her experiment. Her first change would be to focus on her own level.
Unlike Evan and Beatrix, Artemisia was still a Legendary and had not surpassed Level 800.
Though originally, Evan had been below them in terms of level, his progress had surged ahead very soon. The sheer amount of experience he had gained during the Infernal Dimension Saga, not to mention his role in dealing the final blow to Triffid, had elevated him beyond the 800 mark.
Personally, the boy would have loved nothing more than to rest for a very long while, but Artemisia’s experiment would benefit him as well, so he tagged along with her.
Anyway, despite Evan getting the highest amount of EXP, Artemisia still got enough to pass Level 795.
However, she still had a ways to go before Sovereignty.
Arthur had initially thought it would take Artemisia a long time to break through to the Sovereign Realm. But the girls proceeded to reveal to him something that shocked him off his rocks.
Apparently, on Aidos, there were certain dungeons called ’Caverns of Trials’—Caverns of Trials I, II, and III.
Each of these dungeons offered a series of 10 trials, and depending on a challenger’s level, completing them could guarantee a jump to a higher realm.
If a challenger was Level 499, 699, or 799, respectively, and they succeeded in all 10 trials, the dungeon would ensure their ascension to the next realm. It didn’t matter even if one was faced with a Levelling wall or they were at a bottleneck.
At first, Arthur thought they were just pulling his leg, but Evan confirmed it—no joke. Evan had apparently used one of these dungeons to make his leap to the Epic Realm.
When he had been at Level 499, he’d entered the Cavern of Trials I and emerged at Level 500.
Hearing this, Arthur screamed, ’That’s Cheating!!’
Naturally, Artemisia, Evan, and Beatrix fired back, claiming that his entire existence was a cheat, and Arthur had no rebuttal. They had a point.
Anyway, Cavern of Trials II guaranteed the Legendary Realm for those at Level 699, while Cavern of Trials III promised Sovereignty for challengers at Level 799. This was where Artemisia, Beatrix and Evan were headed—Cavern of Trials III.
Artemisia planned to use the trials to gain the experience she needed to reach Level 799.
By the time she reached the 10th trial, they would be close enough to level up. And if she hadn’t yet reached the target, she could simply run the trials again, as there was no limit on how many times they could be attempted.
Evan, of course, wasn’t just tagging along for the fun of it. He had his reason for joining them: he needed to upgrade his Human Heart to match the power of his Arch Dragon Heart.
Currently, he was facing an imbalance. His dragon side, as an Arch Dragon, was far more powerful than his human side, which was still at the High Human level—a lower breed compared to his recently acquired Arch Dragon bloodline.
Such was Evan’s predicament. That was why Evan was supporting Artemisia and Beatrix in their pursuit of divine spark upgrades. So after they were done, they’d support him to tackle his own Human Heart upgrade.
These thoughts crossed Arthur’s mind as he entered the Githal Region, where Sloklens awaited.
Immediately, Arthur expanded his Cosmic Spatial Perception, bypassing all Anti-Perception barriers and scanning the entire Region.
"Wow, that’s a lot of Divines."
Indeed, Githal was teeming with Divine Humans and Low-Rank gods; dozens of which were Transcendents.
The Region’s population was less than half what Arthur remembered, with many of the citizens having evacuated up north.
As he drew closer to Sloklens, Arthur’s senses detected an even higher concentration of Transcendent Divine Humans.
No surprise there, however, as he and Alvey had already expected that the Aramisians would fortify crucial areas and the Starlight Fortress was no exception.
Though it was some distance away from the frontlines, its strategic value was immense—not just as a military stronghold, but also as a key logistics nexus.
Once he arrived in the city, Arthur made his way to a nearby restaurant—one of the few still open. The establishment currently catered primarily to mercenaries and soldiers as few civilians remained.
’Well, fighters gotta eat.’
Arthur thought that as he scanned the area with his eyes and spotted Rachel. Deciding to surprise her, he suppressed his presence as he weaved in through the small crowd.
When he reached her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in close.
"Boo!"
"?!"
Rachel reacted instinctively, spinning and throwing a punch at the intruder, but Arthur caught her fist effortlessly, laughing as he stepped back.
"Relax, it’s me!"
Arthur spoke, waving as she turned fully to face him, her brown eyes widening in surprise.
"You called, I arrived."
"...Arthur..."
Rachel spoke, her voice still filled with shock as Arthur slid into the chair opposite her, studying her with a critical eye.
"What’s wrong? Why do you look like a wreck?"
True to Arthur’s words, Rachel looked like a wreck.
Dark circles hung under her eyes, and they were faintly red as if she’d been crying. Her long brown hair, while not entirely messy, was far less neat than usual.
"..."
Rachel stayed silent for a few moments, her lips pressed together as if weighing her words. Finally, she exhaled and spoke.
"...I didn’t think you’d come so early."
"Then why are you here so early?"
Arthur glanced at a wall clock as he asked, noting it was barely 8 a.m.
"...I had some things to think about..."
Rachel responded after a short pause and Arthur’s attention shifted back to her, his eyes narrowing as he asked once again.
"What’s eating at you? You look like the apocalypse is happening tomorrow."
She hesitated again, her fingers curling into a light fist. Her response, when it came, was quiet.
"It’s just...I’ve been having a hard time recently."
"A hard time?"
"Yeah. But it’s nothing to worry about. If things go well, it won’t be a problem much longer."
Her tone made it clear she was already working on resolving whatever troubled her, but the guarded way she spoke told Arthur she wouldn’t offer specifics if pressed.
Just as he was about to let it go, Rachel leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table, narrowing the space between them.
"What about you...Where have you been?"
The table was small, and her movement brought her halfway across its width, making it feel like the room had shrunk at that moment.
Although he still had questions, Arthur decided to hold off for now. He’d get his answers later.
"To be honest, Rachel... I wasn’t even on Aramis."
Rachel’s eyes widened, the surprise evident in the way her breath caught. Arthur was insinuating that he went to another world and before she could ask for clarification, he continued.
"Remember when I saw you in Plomux?"
She nodded silently and Arthur explained.
"Well, I was heading towards a Dimensional Rift there. And knowing about the rift in Rhigor—the one the Demons used to enter Aramis..."
He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid, knowing she would form her own conjectures from there and assume the rift led to another world.
"Basically, I got stuck on another world for weeks. Got separated from my companions, and it took us some time to reconnect. Along the way, we had Devils trying to kill us and stuff."
Arthur flipped through the menu in front of him, not really paying attention to it, his voice calm as he recounted his story.
"That day I called you—that was when I left the rift."
He set the menu down when nothing on the first page caught his eye and then glanced around the café, noticing more soldiers milling about.
"What’s going on today? There seem to be more soldiers than usual."
Rachel leaned back, her gaze following his, before she sighed deeply.
"The war’s been escalating lately. Things are getting more tense by the day, especially with the upcoming battle.
Rumours going around are the Demon forces are preparing for a massive push before the end of the Year, and we’re bracing for it."
Arthur nodded, already suspecting as much.
"I heard something similar when I went to the Merc Guild, but... to think it’s gotten this bad."
Leaning back in his seat, Arthur swept his gaze across the restaurant, noting the number of Divine Humans in Sloklens alone before speaking.
"Oh well, if the war starts to go south, I might just, you know, excuse myself from all this. Wanna come along?"
Rachel blinked at his questioning offer, clearly caught off guard.
"You’re trying to ’excuse’ yourself from the war?"
In response, Arthur shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yep. I’d just go somewhere that no one would be able to find me."
Even after he said this, Arthur saw Rachel still staring at him dumbfoundedly and he laughed, picking up the menu and going to page 2 as he spoke.
"I’ve told you a million times, Rachel—it might sound like bragging, but I’m really good at concealing stuff. If I decide to vanish, no one in this World can track me down."
At his words, Rachel went silent, her head falling low for a moment. Her hair fell over her face, shading her expression just as Arthur, who had turned to place his drink order, failed to notice.
Once his order was placed, he turned back to her, noticing her head down and bent a bit to ask.
"Are you okay?"
Rachel straightened up and quickly wiped her eyes before meeting his gaze again.
"Yeah. Just... tired."
"You clearly look tired."
Arthor responded as he reached out, gently brushing some of her hair behind her ear. As he did, his sleeve rolled down slightly, revealing a bracelet on his wrist.
Immediately, Rachel’s eyes caught sight and recognition flashed in them.
"That bracelet..."
Hearing her trailing voice, Arthur glanced down at the accessory, a soft smile tugging at his lips.
"Ah, yeah. It’s the one you got me back in August."
A brief silence fell, and then Arthur’s smile faded slightly as he placed his hand thoughtfully on his chin.
"Damn, time really flies. We’re already in November. Can you believe it? I think we met around this time last year, didn’t we?"
Rachel nodded quietly, a faint smile crossing her face. Arthur’s fingers brushed the bracelet, his voice a little distant.
"Well, anyway, it’s the one you gave me. Come to think of it, I haven’t taken it off in forever.
I put it in stasis, so it’s been unaffected by time—no wear and tear, so I just never bothered to take it off."
Hearing his words, Rachel’s eyes flickered with confusion and curiosity.
"Stasis? Unaffected by time?"
She paused, and then a memory of a time when Arthur had come over to her house months ago resurfaced.
"Oh, right. You did rewind that glass once, didn’t you?"
"Uh-huh."
Arthur gave a slight nod and Rachel leaned on the table with a sigh.
"So, you can use time magic too, huh? And here I thought gravity was your thing."
The boy pulled out a communication device from his subspace, sending a message to Alvey to inform him about the increased soldier numbers as he responded to Rachel.
"Didn’t I tell you? I’ve always had Time magic. I was born with it. Gravity came much later."
Rachel raised an eyebrow, clearly still processing the information.
"But we went through an affinity test in Duskhand. How the hell did they not detect your time magic?"
To her question, Arthur put the CD back into his subspace and turned to her with a raised brow.
"Rachel, didn’t I just tell you how good I am at concealing things?"
As the words left his lips, Arthur caught sight of the waiter approaching from the corner of his eye. He turned to them, momentarily distracted, while Rachel let out a soft sigh.
"You’re pretty good at concealing stuff, huh? I’m not gonna lie, Arthur, I really thought you were just bragging every time you said that."
Rachel raised her body a bit, watching Arthur’s side profile as she continued.
"But in the end, I guess you weren’t bragging."
Arthur had just lifted his drink to his lips, taking a sip, when her words registered and he suddenly froze mid-motion.
And in the second he froze—
**SHUNK!
—that unmistakable sound reached his ears.
"..."
Silence reigned.
Arthur lowered the glass, spitting the liquid back into it before setting it down on the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then and slowly glanced down.
Then, he looked back up at Rachel, seated across from him.
Finally, he asked.
"What’s this supposed to be?"
Arthur’s tone was normal, like someone inquiring about a minor inconvenience.
"I think I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking that."
Rachel met Arthur’s gaze with her brown eyes as she responded, and hearing her words, the boy once again looked down.
Rachel’s hand was trembling ever so slightly, her fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of a dagger—its rune-inscribed blade buried deep in Arthur’s chest, right where his heart should be.
"Well," Arthur muttered, his tone eerily calm, "this is awkward."
