Abyssal Demon? This was another term Ronan was hearing for the first time.
"You should know the reason behind the formation of the Multi-Ring Continent."
Moriel spoke, and Ronan nodded, "The battles among ancient wizards shattered what was once a unified continent. The tilt of energy particles wandering between heaven and earth caused the sunken fragments of the continent, ultimately forming a world pattern similar to a 'broken staircase.' But what does this have to do with the Abyssal Demon?"
"Do you really believe such a childish explanation? Would anyone be foolish enough to destroy their own home?"
Moriel looked at Ronan with disdain and a sneer, then replied lightly, "The shattering of the ancient continent was not due to the civil wars among ancient wizards. The real reason was the invasion of forces from other worlds."
"Invasion from other worlds?"
Ronan blinked, momentarily stunned.
"In ancient times, wizards reached a peak in their exploration and research of arcana. Their power was so great that they could disdain the gods, and with that power came ambition.
Proud ancient wizards viewed the entire universe as their hunting ground, abusing the World Stone without restraint or rules, opening countless portals to otherworldly spaces, wantonly plundering resources from various worlds, and conducting their experiments across different planes. The result was a massive influx of otherworldly beings, ultimately leading to a great catastrophe.
The ancient wizards reaped what they sowed, paying an extremely painful price, with the situation deteriorating to the point where the once glorious civilization was nearly extinguished.
Fortunately, this calamity was eventually quelled.
And the Abyssal Demon is one of the main sources of this world-ending disaster."
"What?!"
The "truth" revealed by Moriel struck Ronan with immense shock, causing his mind to tremble.
"Why have I never read about this in any ancient texts? Did the ancient wizards hide the truth?"
Ronan's expression was dazed.
"Of course."
Moriel smirked coldly, "If it were you, would you write down such a shameful thing for future generations to read? The ancient wizards, due to their arrogance and foolishness, caused the decline of the entire wizarding civilization, turning the world into a battlefield. They wouldn't want to be cursed by generations of wizards after their souls departed."
Ronan took a deep breath, trying to digest everything Moriel had said.
"The greatest characteristic of the Abyssal Demon is its ability to feed on negative emotions. Of course, fresh, tender flesh and souls filled with suffering are also exquisite delicacies for them.
The Cowardly Demon is one of the weakest types of Abyssal Demons, akin to cannon fodder. Even if this Magical Artifact set were forged, it wouldn't hold much value."
As Moriel spoke, her eyes suddenly narrowed, a hint of coldness appearing on her beautiful face.
"Do you know why that group from the Resurrection Society is so detestable? Because they have always been the most loyal lackeys of the Abyssal Demons.
Among them, a small faction even has the filthy blood of the Abyssal Demons flowing in their veins.
Their true delusion is to open all the sealed portals created by the ancient wizards, summoning the Abyssal Demon army to rectify the failure from ten thousand years ago."
"No wonder."
Ronan finally understood why the composition of the "Cowardly Set" resembled the strange feathered mask worn by the dark leader of the Resurrection Society.
The cold man beside Beatrice wore a malevolent set of armor that bore similarities to the armor worn by a fifth-level wizard from the Resurrection Society during the chaos of the Genius Competition.
It turned out that the Resurrection Society had always been the minions of the Abyssal Demons, and there might even be true Abyssal Demons that had survived since ancient times within the society.
After such a long time, who knows how much power they had developed in the dark corners of the world? No wonder the wizarding world had repeatedly attempted to eradicate the Resurrection Society, yet these guys could never be completely eliminated. Ronan suddenly felt a wave of anxiety, as if a catastrophic disaster could strike at any moment.
But thinking about such a matter that concerned the survival of the entire wizarding world, it was not something a mere third-level wizard like him should worry about. If the sky were to fall, there would naturally be someone taller to hold it up, and his mood gradually calmed down.
After looking at the forging blueprints for a while longer, Ronan carefully put them away along with the malevolent weapons.
Although Moriel looked down on both items, their power still depended on who they were compared to.
At least from the effects worn by the cold man, Ronan felt that this set could enhance combat power significantly, even possibly reaching the Dawn Tier.
This also indirectly reflected the strength of the Abyssal Demons.
Five days later, on the mirror-like blue sea.
A massive magic ship floated quietly, the sea breeze billowing the white sails, while a few seabirds perched on the mast, preening their feathers.
Ronan and Moriel stood in the high air outside the deck, facing Beatrice, who was bidding them farewell.
"I will always cherish the days spent with you, Jasmine."
Beatrice mustered her courage and stepped forward, wanting to shake hands with Moriel to say goodbye.
Due to Ronan's display of effortlessly defeating a third-level wizard, the "sisterly friendship" between Beatrice and Moriel seemed to have "changed in nature."
In the days that followed, Beatrice never dared to take the initiative to approach Moriel again, and whenever they met, she was cautious and respectful. For this, Moriel had complained to Ronan more than once, saying he had ruined her last few days of happiness.
Beatrice's step forward was a burst of courage, mainly due to her naive character.
However, to Ronan's surprise, in response to Beatrice's farewell, Moriel smiled slightly and even went up to give her a gentle hug, causing Beatrice to burst into tears on the spot.
Ronan noticed a detail; he saw a tiny red ladybug, the size of a grain of rice, crawling out from under Moriel's right index fingernail and quietly burrowing into Beatrice's collar.
His gaze flickered, but he didn't point it out. The method Moriel had secretly employed looked like some kind of special mark.
The ship was now located in the eastern coastal area, less than ten kilometers from the shoreline.
Ronan's direction home was different from Beatrice and the others, so he chose to disembark here in advance.
After a simple farewell, Ronan wrapped Moriel in his mental energy and soared toward the direction of his memories.
"…It is our fortune to encounter them."
The cold man gazed at the quickly disappearing figures of the two, speaking with a tone of emotion, "The spirits of the Perik family are watching over you, Beatrice.
Do not disappoint anyone who has expectations of you. With the inheritance and blueprints, we will eventually return to the south and seek revenge against the Voodoo Church."
Beatrice nodded, still immersed in a faint sadness of parting, remaining silent.
Suddenly, a "splash" echoed, followed by a commotion below.
The two looked down to see several wizard apprentices who had been standing on the lower deck suddenly jumping into the water, desperately swimming toward the direction Ronan and Moriel had left.
A total of four people fell into the water, but three of them gave up and returned after a short swim, leaving only one red-haired boy still persevering.
"Naive little ones."
The cold man shook his head at the sight, then called to Beatrice, "Let's go."
Beatrice nodded, taking one last look toward the horizon before turning to leave with the cold man.
"One little guy seems to want to follow you."
Amidst the howling sea breeze, Moriel lightly brushed her hair aside and said to Ronan.
Ronan did not turn back, simply replying, "I know."
His mental energy had already detected a figure several kilometers behind them, struggling to swim after them. It was the red-haired boy who had always looked at him with longing and earnest eyes every time he appeared on the deck.
"How interesting."
Moriel suddenly sighed inexplicably, "If it weren't for this experience, I might never have known that observing the lives of ants could be so fascinating."
Ronan glanced at her and suddenly said, "You left a mark on Beatrice, which means you don't want to end this friendship just yet.
I misjudged you; I didn't expect you to truly consider Beatrice a friend. Let me guess again."
Ronan's gaze lightly swept across Moriel's cheek, "All this time, you've hated Serena, but the real reason is that you want to be friends with her, right?
You just don't know what the correct way to interact is. Both of your personalities have flaws, and you stumbled into opposition, yet you refuse to let go of your pride, so you can only continue to maintain this flawed relationship."
"That's probably the most foolish joke I've heard in days."
Moriel narrowed her eyes at Ronan, her expression icy, "It's not funny at all, you ignorant, arrogant, and self-righteous ice earthworm."
Ronan smiled faintly, not bothering to refute.
The bond between Ronan and Moriel grew stronger day by day, their understanding of each other becoming clearer and deeper.
Moriel was a contradiction; she appeared fierce and monstrous on the outside, yet inside, she seemed more sensitive and soft than anyone else.
She seemed indifferent to everything, yet cared deeply about many things, just unwilling to show it.
She reminded Ronan of a fruit. "Enough, stop continuing with your baseless assumptions and speculations about me."
A slight pain in his wrist interrupted Ronan's thoughts. He turned his head to see Moriel, who had just bitten him hard, now glaring at him with an unusually fierce expression.
Beneath that fierceness was a sense of embarrassment and anger, as if she felt exposed.
Ronan said nothing, cutting off his previous thoughts.
Soon, the two officially reached the shore.
As their feet gently touched the sandy land of the eastern coast, an inexplicable thrill surged within Ronan's heart.
He instantly sensed some subtle movements at the level of his soul, his eyes slightly glowing.
"Evaque didn't deceive me; to resolve my soul's issues, I indeed needed to return."
Ronan exhaled lightly.
Before setting off, he used his mental energy to scan the figure of the red-haired boy still struggling in the waves behind them.
The boy had only managed to swim less than a kilometer, but he looked like he was running out of strength.
If he continued, he would likely perish in the waves.
Ronan thought for a moment, took out a rune stone, inscribed something on it, and then casually tossed it into the water.
After doing all this, he no longer paid attention to what was behind him and called for Moriel to continue on their way.
"Let's go."
"Keep going! Harry! You can do it!"
"You don't want to live your life in mediocrity, do you?"
"They're all offspring of great nobles; once they return, they can easily have everything.
But your father is just a gardener! You only have this chance to change your fate!"
"Even if it means death, you must seize it!"
In the cold seawater, the drenched red-haired boy struggled to move his limbs, paddling forward.
He hadn't jumped off the ship on a whim; he had prepared for this plan for an entire week.
He had tied floating devices, water, and food to replenish his strength all over his body. He didn't know how far he was from the shore, nor did he know if that great person would stop to look at him, even for a moment. He didn't even know if what he was doing was truly meaningful, but he knew he had only this opportunity.
He could only take a gamble.
"Cough cough cough."
Suddenly, the red-haired boy, Harry, choked on seawater and began to cough violently.
Just then, a wave of moderate size hit him, and he was accidentally knocked into the water.
When he finally struggled back to the surface, a terrible thing happened: due to the earlier incident, all the supplies he had tied to himself fell into the water.
"Damn it."
At that moment, Harry felt a sense of despair.
However, at that moment, a white streak of light suddenly flew in from afar, landing precisely in Harry's hand.
Harry tightly grasped the object that had suddenly fallen, and as he touched the hard, cold surface, a piece of information was transmitted into his mind.
"Demili Plateau."
It was a place name.
Harry's face showed confusion, completely unaware of where this place was.
But in the next second, a blazing hope ignited rapidly in his gray eyes, a continuous surge of power flowing from within him.
"It was that great person who gave this to me! That great person saw me! He saw me!
He is willing to give me a chance! Haha!"
Harry's heart was filled with sudden joy.
He had seen golden tendrils shatter the "sun" in the sky, and he had seen dozens of miles of sea surface frozen by a single finger. Those were the supreme sights he had longed for! A wizard!
He must become a wizard, a powerful wizard like that great person!
He would definitely survive, even if he had to traverse every inch of the eastern coast, he would find the place that great person had pointed him to—
Demili Plateau! "Demili Plateau."
On a hillside interwoven with yellow and green, two figures on horseback came to a stop.
One of them slowly pulled down the hood from his head, revealing a fair and handsome young face.
"This place... is not far from my home."
Ronan dismounted, crouched down, and casually pulled a few wild wheat stalks from the ground, crushing the shriveled grains between his fingers.
"It's time for the wild wheat harvest again."
Ronan spoke softly, standing up to gaze at the undulating fields in the distance.
On the land dotted with forests, patches of cultivated land could be seen, remnants of golden grains scattered across the soil.
Moriel raised her hand slightly, conjuring a few stalks of wild wheat that Ronan had just pulled, curiously chewing on them for a moment before quickly spitting them out with a disgusted expression.
"What is this? Did you survive on this before you became a wizard?"
"No."
Ronan shook his head, "This is food for the commoners; I ate much better than this."
"My father is a very strict lord.
The peasants under his rule often go hungry due to taxes, relying on this nutritionally void wild wheat to fill their stomachs."
"Let's go."
Ronan calmly took the reins of the horse and said softly, "We will be home soon."
What he said seemed not only to explain to Moriel but also to convey to another "self" within him.
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