Immortal Paladin

Chapter 496 481 Alice Returns

481 Alice Returns

The Origin King stared at me for a long moment.

His eyes burned with fury, humiliation, and something else beneath it. Calculation. He was weighing his options, measuring the risks, trying to determine whether continuing this confrontation would give him any advantage.

Finally, he lowered his sword slightly.

"This is not the last time we will see each other," he said coldly. "Enjoy this fleeting moment of triumph while you can, Holy Emperor. The next time we meet, I will carve the truth from your corpse and reclaim what is mine."

His voice hardened further as he prepared to depart.

"You should pray to whatever god you worship that the next battlefield favors you more than this one."

Then his body dissolved into streaks of divine light.

The Origin King vanished.

The moment his presence disappeared from the sky, I internally heaved a long sigh of relief.

'Thank God that worked.'

My bluff held.

Well… technically, it had not really been a bluff.

I would have won if the fight continued.

The problem was that I would also die.

That was the unavoidable consequence of using Exalted Renewal.

Before this conversation even began, I had already calculated the outcome. With Exalted Renewal stacked on top of Ophanim's intelligence-gathering capabilities, the probability of victory was firmly on my side.

The issue was the aftermath.

Even in the winning timelines, my existence burned out before the end.

I had known the bluff would work.

Still, I had not expected it to work quite so cleanly.

The Ophanim were terrifying tools. Their ability allowed me to see the distance between cause and effect itself. If I understood what I wanted and had enough information about the variables involved, the path to that outcome would reveal itself.

As long as the goal was clear, the result could be engineered.

Of course, the ability had limitations.

A lack of information could cripple its effectiveness.

In the case of the Origin King, I had discovered a reliable way to defeat him. However, there were still major gaps in the process. The most frustrating one was painfully obvious. I still had no idea how to properly pierce through his Origin Art.

That infinite distance barrier was absurdly powerful. None of the tools currently available to me could break it directly.

Of course, direct confrontation was not the only path to victory.

There were plenty of alternatives.

I could slowly dismantle the foundation of his power by strangling his source of faith. I could destroy his armies methodically until his influence collapsed. If necessary, I could even attempt to seal him somewhere outside the normal flow of existence.

All of those methods would work eventually.

The problem was time.

They would take far too long.

Personally, I preferred straightforward battles whenever possible. If not that, then something decisive enough to remove the threat quickly without dragging innocent people into the crossfire.

At the very least, the immediate danger had passed and I bought time. The city of New Risendawn could finally rebuild itself without the looming threat of invasion hanging over everyone's heads.

If I wanted to defeat the Origin King permanently, however, I would eventually need an army strong enough to challenge his.

And that opened up a whole new set of problems.

A familiar presence drifted down beside me.

Ru Qiu appeared in the air next to me, floating lazily with his arms folded behind his head. His expression looked deeply disappointed. "What a waste," he muttered. "I was hoping for a real fight. Something dangerous enough to awaken my Supremacy Trait."

I glanced at him.

"You'll get your fight someday."

Ru Qiu's eyes lit up slightly as a new idea suddenly occurred to him.

"You know what you could do?" he said eagerly. "Use that weird eye ability of yours to project an alternate reality where you and I fight to the death. That should push me far enough to trigger my Supremacy Trait."

I stared at him for a moment.

"I'd rather not."

My temples throbbed slightly.

"The Ophanim are already straining me more than usual," I continued. "This world suppresses their power heavily. It feels similar to how qi gets strangled the moment it enters this realm."

Ru Qiu clicked his tongue.

"Lame."

With the immediate crisis over, we both returned to New Risendawn. Life gradually resumed its normal pace. Over the next couple of months, the city changed dramatically.

New structures rose across the landscape as construction crews worked tirelessly to expand the settlement. Streets filled with merchants, craftsmen, and wandering adventurers. Markets bustled with activity, and the atmosphere carried an optimism that had been absent for far too long.

It almost felt like the World of Losten itself was waking up again.

People walked through the streets with smiles that no longer looked forced.

"I heard they're opening another smithy near the east gate," one man said while carrying a stack of lumber.

"Good," another replied. "The last one can barely keep up with orders anymore."

Nearby, a group of women chatted while arranging stalls in the market square.

"Did you hear about the new farms outside the walls?"

"Of course. If the harvest goes well this year, we might finally stop relying on scavenged grain."

Further down the road, two young men argued while hauling stone blocks.

"I'm telling you, this place is going to be bigger than the old capital someday."

"You're dreaming."

"Just wait and see."

The energy of the city was contagious. Even the buildings seemed to grow more confident with every passing week.

Stolen story; please report.

Eventually, I located the place I had been looking for. It was Alice and Gu Jie's laboratory.

The place was a disaster.

Books were piled everywhere. Alchemical equipment cluttered every available surface. Crates of materials were stacked in strange corners of the room while half-finished diagrams covered the walls.

I was not entirely sure whether I had entered a library, an alchemy lab, or some kind of experimental workshop.

Probably all three.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked.

Joan looked up from a cluttered table near the entrance. The priestess brushed a strand of hair away from her face and gestured toward a chair.

"Please sit," she said calmly. "I'll prepare some tea."

I carefully navigated the maze of equipment and papers before taking a seat.

Across from me, Gu Jie finally looked up from a set of glowing instruments. Her expression was unusually serious. Without any buildup, she dropped the news.

"This world is dying."

Joan set the teacup in front of me before taking a seat nearby. The steam curled gently upward as the scent of herbs filled the cluttered room. She studied me for a moment before speaking.

"How much do you know about a dying world?"

"Not much," I said. "Define a dead world."

Gu Jie folded her hands together on the table. Her eyes carried that familiar look she always had whenever she was about to explain something complicated.

"A dead world is a world whose ley lines have completely broken down. The energy network that sustains the land collapses, the dragon veins dry up, and the cycle that nourishes life stops functioning. Once that happens, the world slowly suffocates. Crops stop growing, ecosystems collapse, and eventually life can no longer flourish there at all."

I frowned slightly as I listened.

Joan picked up the explanation where he left off.

"I knew a little about the Hollowed World before," she said, "but I began studying it more extensively after the appearance of the dungeons caught my attention. Over time, I discovered a pattern, one that is strikingly similar to Losten's decay."

She pulled a few scattered papers from the table and slid them toward me.

"At regular intervals, entire realms descend into the Hollowed World. These realms are usually dying worlds themselves. The Hollowed World pulls them in, absorbs them, and through that process the world is rejuvenated."

She paused before continuing.

"The mechanism is not gentle, but it is effective."

I scanned the notes while she spoke.

"A lack of dragon veins in a region can already cause terrible consequences," Joan continued. "Poor harvests, tainted air, sickness spreading through the land, childbirth failures, strange misfortunes accumulating among the population. Those are only early-stage symptoms."

Her expression grew more serious.

"We believe the Hollowed World has begun pulling Losten toward itself. The appearance of the dungeons is likely a symptom of that process already beginning."

I slowly set the papers down.

Gu Jie leaned forward slightly.

"Father, do you remember my Sixth Sense Misfortune?"

I nodded.

"How could I forget?"

She smiled faintly, though there was little humor in it.

"That ability functioned in a strange way. In a sense, I served as a vessel that accumulated misfortune so that prosperity could spread elsewhere in the Greater Universe. My existence absorbed certain burdens that would otherwise disrupt the balance of fate."

She paused.

"Have you ever wondered how I managed to accumulate so much misfortune back then?"

Gu Jie tapped the papers lightly.

"These descending realms played a role in it. Every dying world carried enormous amounts of accumulated misfortune. That energy had to go somewhere when the realms were processed by the Hollowed World. A portion of it was harvested and fed into me."

I blinked.

The scale of the system suddenly became clearer.

Gu Jie continued calmly.

"The Hollowed World was designed to function as part of a much larger structure. A mechanism that processes dying worlds and redistributes their accumulated burdens. In other words, it operates under a form of cyclical tyranny. We already broke part of that cycle. The old system that fed misfortune into me is gone. But that does not mean the tyranny itself has ended. This world we are standing on right now is simply another piece of the same mechanism."

Joan spoke again.

"There is one possible solution," she said carefully. "You could allow the Hollowed World to absorb Losten."

Her voice remained gentle, but the implication landed heavily.

"If the process completes, this world will likely be rejuvenated instead of dying."

I stared at the table for several seconds.

Through the Dark Veil, I had sealed the Hollowed World from drawing in additional realms. I had done it to stop the endless suffering caused by the old system.

Back then, it had seemed like the obvious choice.

Now the consequences were starting to reveal themselves.

If dying worlds relied on the Hollowed World to survive… then stopping that process might have condemned countless realms to slow extinction.

My chest tightened slightly.

That realization placed me uncomfortably close to the same logic used by the Summit of the Four Powers in the past when they carried out their infamous Cleanse policy.

Sacrifice some worlds to protect the greater structure.

The refugees who had fled from the Hollowed World always spoke about their situation with bitterness, but I had never fully grasped the scale behind their words.

Now, I understood.

I exhaled slowly.

"Tell me the risks."

Both of them hesitated briefly. That hesitation alone confirmed my suspicion. They had been easing me into the conversation for a reason.

Gu Jie finally spoke.

"If the Hollowed World begins absorbing Losten, several outcomes are possible," he said. "The most obvious one is war. The moment the process starts, factions from the Hollowed World will notice the opportunity."

She began counting them off one by one.

"We might face a large-scale invasion as various forces attempt to claim control over this world before the absorption completes. Even if they do not invade directly, their agents could arrive and destabilize the region."

She raised another finger.

"The process itself could introduce chaotic elements into this world and vice-versa. Creatures, environmental distortions, and unknown anomalies from the Hollowed World may begin appearing here."

Another finger followed.

"The integration of two realms could trigger unpredictable reactions within the ley lines. Natural disasters, mana storms, spatial fractures, or biological mutations are all possible."

The list continued.

"Some of the dungeon ecosystems might expand uncontrollably. Monstrous populations could surge beyond containment. Entire regions could become uninhabitable while the energies stabilize. And that is only the beginning."

Joan added quietly, "There is also a more dangerous possibility."

I turned toward her.

"If powerful factions from the Hollowed World interpret this as interference with their system, they might respond aggressively. They could attempt another Cleanse. Or they might simply launch a full invasion."

It sounded really bad.

The room fell silent as the weight of the situation settled over us.

After a moment, I smiled faintly.

"Well," I said, "the world was never simple to begin with."

Both of them looked at me.

"I've made worse decisions before," I continued calmly. "And somehow we managed to survive those too."

I picked up the teacup and took a slow sip.

"Whatever the answer is, we'll face it the same way we always do."

I set the cup down.

"I'll think about it."

Ru Qiu burst through the door so suddenly that the loose papers on the tables fluttered from the gust of wind he dragged in with him.

"There you are," he said, sounding oddly excited. "Alice is back."

"She didn't just come back," Ru Qiu added with a grin. "You might want to see this yourself."

I stood up immediately.

"Excuse me," I said to Joan and Gu Jie before heading toward the exit. "Looks like something important just arrived."

The moment I stepped outside and made my way toward the city walls, I could already feel a lot of presences. When I reached the top of the wall and looked out across the plains beyond New Risendawn, I stopped for a moment.

A small army stood outside the gates.

They were a strange mixture of races—humans, elves, beastfolk, dwarves, and several species I recognized from both the Light and Dark factions of the Hollowed World. Their banners fluttered in the wind, each carrying different symbols of allegiance.

At the center of it all stood a familiar figure.

Alice.

I couldn't help smiling.

"Oh, Alice… you've really outdone yourself this time."

I lightly leaped from the wall and descended toward the gathering below. My boots touched the ground a short distance away from the delegation.

Alice immediately stepped forward.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty," she said with a bright, triumphant smile.

Behind her stood two individuals who clearly considered themselves important.

The first was an elderly human wearing elaborate holy raiment. His robes shimmered with faint divine energy, and the symbols embroidered into the fabric clearly represented several powerful faith traditions.

He stepped forward with dignified composure.

"I am Archelon Valerius," he said. "Chieftain, Pope of the Council of the Faithful, and the chosen representative of the Light."

His eyes studied me carefully.

Then the second figure moved.

A dark elf woman stepped forward with slow, confident strides. Her long silver hair framed a face that carried an unmistakably malicious grin.

She bowed slightly with theatrical elegance.

"I am Seraphae Vael'Thryn," she said smoothly. "The last remaining princess of my people, the newly crowned queen of many races, and the rightful ruler of the Dark."

Her crimson eyes gleamed with amusement.

Both of them were incredibly rude.

The old man casually swept his Divine Sense across my body, scanning me like a curious artifact. At the same time, I felt a subtle divine technique brush against my mind. It was Favorable Impression.

Sneaky.

Meanwhile, the dark elf princess attempted something even worse.

A thin thread of mental energy slipped toward my consciousness, attempting to read my surface thoughts while simultaneously weaving a nearly undetectable Charm spell around the connection.

Both attempts were extremely subtle.

Unfortunately for them, subtlety didn't help much when dealing with someone who had Ophanim watching every cause and effect around him.

Alice immediately noticed the interference and her expression darkened.

"Stop that," she snapped sharply. "Both of you. Don't try that again."

The elderly pope coughed awkwardly and withdrew his power. The dark elf princess only smiled wider but allowed the charm thread to dissolve.

Alice turned back toward me with visible irritation.

"I apologize," she said. "They insisted on testing you the moment we arrived."

I chuckled softly and waved my hand.

"It's fine."

Alice looked like she was still ready to lecture them, so I gently interrupted her.

"Relax," I said with a small smile. "It was cute."

Alice stared at me for a moment before sighing. Behind her, the pope looked slightly embarrassed while the dark elf queen appeared thoroughly entertained. The small army behind them remained silent, watching the exchange carefully.

It seemed Alice hadn't just brought back allies.

She had brought back two factions that normally couldn't stand being in the same room together.

Which meant this situation was about to get very interesting.

"Anyone here wants a cup of tea?"