Chapter 67: The Time to Part
"Hahahaha... It seems the boy has some dignity to hold onto. I’ll give you credit for that," Damian laughed warmly at Alen’s words.
Standing safely behind the tall man, Zane muttered bitterly to himself.
’Dignity? My foot. He just scammed us out of six thousand gold a few minutes ago...’
"So, boy, where are you from? And where are your parents?" Damian asked kindly.
"If you’re lost, I will drop you off there. Just tell me. I can do that much of a favor for you."
Alen sighed and shook his head.
"My parents are already dead, and I have nowhere to go. You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself."
Damian’s sharp eyes softened as he stared at the young boy. He didn’t know what had happened to Alen’s parents, but because Damian was also an orphan, he deeply understood the importance of parents in a young person’s life.
He stepped forward and gently patted the boy’s silver hair.
"Hmph... It means you’re a strong-minded and mature boy at such a young age. You’re handsome, too... and you seem pretty strong for your age,"
Damian observed, his lips curling into a grin.
"What do you think about marrying my daughter?"
Zane’s face instantly turned deathly pale. He desperately wanted to yell and retort, but absolutely no words came out of his mouth in the presence of the Supreme Sage. Instead, he just clutched his fists tightly.
’Why?! No, please don’t accept it! I don’t want to lose her! Please no, please no...’ Zane prayed internally to any god that would listen.
Alen, who had caught a quick glance of Zane’s sheer panic, turned his eyes back to Damian and replied flatly.
"Not interested..."
Zane let out a massive breath, all of his suffocating tension vanishing in an instant.
Damian raised a curious eyebrow.
"Huh... Maybe you don’t know her background, and that’s why you didn’t consider it. I’ll properly introduce myself..."
"I am Damian Empyrea, otherwise famous under the title ’The Supreme Sage’. I am also one of the few people in all of Asterion who has managed to fight his way up to Stage 7 of the Ascension Realm."
"Not only that, but I also own thousands of businesses across the world, heavily invested in every sector, generating billions in daily profit."
Damian gestured proudly to the blue-haired girl beside him.
"And Serene is not a normal girl. She has been blessed with immense mana since childhood, and I am absolutely certain she is going to become the strongest Mage in history."
Damian crossed his arms, staring down at Alen.
"Do you still want to reject the proposal now?"
Alen looked calmly at the man, but internally, his mind was reeling in sheer shock.
’Damn it, is he a global business tycoon?! No, he isn’t just filthy rich—he managed to climb to Stage 7 in the Ascension Realm! That is not an easy feat. Only a limited number of people manage to climb up that high. If he is one of them, it means he is more powerful than I can even imagine...’
Despite his internal panic, Alen simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Still... I’m not interested in marrying her. She is not my type, and I’m not the kind of person who would make her my primary priority. I am incredibly selfish. You should find someone better for her."
Hearing Alen’s firm answer, Damian finally gave up, sighing in slight disappointment.
"That’s quite a shame... Well, whatever. If you ever need my help, boy, you can ask me whenever you want."
Damian reached into his coat.
"Here, take this as a thank you gift. You don’t have to be too polite to accept it. Consider it a reward for staying beside my daughter."
Alen hesitated for a moment before taking the offered black card in his hand.
The card was pitch-black, featuring a golden imprint of a star directly in the center. Alen didn’t know exactly what it was, but since it was given to him by a billionaire Stage 7 powerhouse, it couldn’t possibly be a small thing. He tucked it safely away.
"Okay... Now that we are done here, let’s go, you two..." Damian commanded.
He turned toward Serene and Zane, summoning a teleportation artifact into his hand.
It wasn’t that a Stage 7 Awakener like Damian needed to use an artifact to teleport. If he truly wanted to, he could have just punched the very fabric of space with his bare hands to rip open a wormhole. However, doing so would inadvertently create a massive magical shockwave, attracting unwanted attention from other strong Awakeners across the continent.
That was exactly why he chose to use the artifact. The artifact he held was Legendary Grade. When activated, the space-time fabric would freeze so flawlessly that even the strongest Awakeners in the surrounding city wouldn’t realize someone had teleported; they would only feel a passing breeze of air.
Zane looked at Damian in bewilderment and pointed a finger at himself.
"Me too? Why?"
"Tch! Don’t ask excess questions, or you might earn a beating from me," Damian warned.
"Besides, your sister came to visit my mansion since you were also missing."
Zane’s expression instantly brightened.
"What? My sister finally came back from her trial? Is she alright?"
"Don’t ask me, boy. You can find out when you meet her yourself... Hmm, though she might just beat you to death herself for worrying her."
Zane panicked, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten he was considered a missing person. He knew how deeply his sister cared about him, which meant she was going to be absolutely furious. He hadn’t saved himself at all; his fate was already sealed. He was just going to get beaten up by someone else’s hands instead of Damian’s.
"So let’s go, you two."
Zane and Serene nodded and walked toward Damian. But before they activated the teleportation, Zane paused and walked back over to Alen.
He looked at the silver-haired boy with deep sincerity and bowed slightly.
"Thank you for staying with Serene when she was alone. I don’t know how to truly thank you..."
Zane slowly stood back up, his eyes hardening with friendly rivalry.
"But know that the next time I meet you... I am surely going to beat you in battle."
Zane backed away toward the others.
Serene, standing safely beside her father, waved her hand brightly to say goodbye.
"See you again, Alen~!"
As they stood together, Damian channeled his mana into the artifact. In the blink of an eye, their bodies blurred and completely vanished into thin air.
Now, Alen stood entirely alone in the ruined hospital room. Looking at the empty space, he couldn’t help but feel a sudden, strange sense of loneliness.
"Sigh... It seems I had actually gotten used to the constant bickering with those childhood sweethearts."
Alen shook his head, looking at the cracked floors, the shattered magical barriers, and the broken walls caused by Damian’s earlier aura.
"Well, whatever. Let’s leave this place before anyone comes to check on the noise. I definitely don’t want to pay the bill for all the property damage here..."
He instantly channeled mana into his legs. Leaving only a fading afterimage, Alen vanished.
The ruined, empty room of the hospital was finally quiet.
