Chapter 361:

Sylvia always listened to Xu Xi’s words.

So when Xu Xi told her to go calm the people, Sylvia went right away.

But as she ran, a question kept surfacing in her mind—why had she instinctively rejected the authority of the tower’s core control that Xu Xi had offered her?

Why…

“Master Sorcerer, I don’t understand,” she muttered, clenching her silver-armored skeletal fingers into a fist.

The answer seemed close, yet deliberately obscured.

Unable to solve it, Sylvia could only do as Xu Xi instructed—go to different areas of the tower and calm the frightened people.

“Thank you, Miss Sylvia.”

“Truly, thank you…”

The earlier tremor had thrown the entire tower into chaos, injuring several people.

Sylvia had used sorcery to perform simple healing.

Afterward, she didn’t stay to receive thanks. Driven by an unexplainable anxiety, she rushed back to the top of the tower, her speed increasing.

It was as if something terrible might happen to Xu Xi.

But that was impossible… right?

Xu Xi was strong—he was the one she trusted most.

Since the day they met, he had performed miracle after miracle.

And now, he was even leading them out of the Sorcerer World.

From the bottom of her heart, Sylvia believed that someone as all-powerful as her Master Sorcerer could never be in danger.

So—faster.

Just a little faster.

“Master Sorcerer, are you hiding something from me…?” Sylvia muttered anxiously, pushing herself even harder, flying toward the top of the tower.

She wanted to see with her own eyes that everything was okay.

But then—

A power beyond comprehension erupted above the Tower of Salvation.

Crimson flames, ashen death energy… an apocalyptic force began to engulf the tower.

It was something beyond Sylvia’s imagination.

Everything twisted.

Everything was distorted.

In the blink of an eye, several floating platforms crumbled and collapsed into the chaos below.

In that critical moment, from the top of the tower where Xu Xi stood, a brilliant column of soul light exploded outward, forcibly shielding them from the attack.

“Master Sorcerer…?”

The space shattered like a mirror.

Sylvia stood frozen.

Snapping out of it, she rushed forward again—only to be violently thrown back before she could get close.

Cracks split her lightweight armor.

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

The unknown force at the tower’s peak was ripping her soul apart.

Tearing it.

Breaking it.

Slicing it.

But what terrified Sylvia more than her own pain… was the possibility of a future she could never accept.

She staggered to her feet.

Moving toward the one she cared for.

He’ll be fine… Master Sorcerer will definitely be fine.

Her broken heart tried to comfort itself.

“Master Sorcerer is strong. He’ll be alright,” she whispered, pushing herself faster toward the top of the tower.

But the closer she got, the more twisted the power became.

The order of life and death was reversed.

The living became the dead.

The dead returned to life.

The broken space at the tower’s summit felt like the playground of a mad god, toying with the very laws of existence.

Sylvia’s skeletal body began regenerating flesh.

But soon after, the new flesh decayed again.

Life and death.

Endless cycles.

“I can’t see…” Sylvia gasped.

The searing netherflames burned out her newly-formed eyes, leaving her blind and scorched, unsure where to go.

She cast her Sorcerer’s Eye spell, replacing her ruined sight with magic.

Even so, it wasn’t enough.

The battle between Xu Xi and the unknown enemy had long surpassed what Sylvia could endure.

Her bones screamed.

Her soulfire within her skull flickered and shrieked.

She couldn’t move another inch.

“It hurts… it hurts so much…”

The brave warrior, who should have been immune to pain, now felt every brutal tear due to the regrowth of her flesh.

Her face was streaked with blood, dying her emerald irises a dark red.

Blood dripped from her bangs, pooling beneath her into a thin crimson line.

On one knee, she couldn’t hold on.

Gasping, her throat scorched and hoarse like fire burning through dry wood, she could only cry out in broken, meaningless sounds.

“Master Sorcerer… needs me right now…”

“I have to… I have to get to him…”

Her small body trembled violently.

Her whole form burned with netherflame, caught in a grotesque state between life and death.

She couldn’t see.

She was bloodied and broken.

And still, Sylvia pressed forward.

She was a coward.

A fake hero abandoned by many.

Timid, unsure, with no redeeming qualities.

But someone had believed in that Sylvia.

Someone had invited her.

Needed her.

Told her that without her help, his research would be difficult.

So she wanted to respond to that trust.

Offer the tiny strength she had.

Then grill some burnt Shashe fruits…

And feed them to that terrible man who always tried to shoulder everything alone.

“Sylvia, do you want to leave with me?”

“I need you, Sylvia.”

“My research needs you. Without you, I’d be in trouble.”

So selfish. So unfair.

He said all those things—

And now he was facing this enemy alone.

That Master Sorcerer… is the worst!

Buzz——

Sylvia’s vision blurred, but she could feel the battle intensifying above her.

The unknown enemy had launched a new assault.

Even time and space had begun to reverse.

She wanted—

So badly—

To do something.

But she could do nothing.

“I… even I…”

Sylvia shakily raised her hand, using every bit of strength she had.

She grasped the hilt of her knight’s sword with both hands, pointing it toward that unnamable force in the sky.

Blood slid down her arms, drop by drop.

This was all she could do.

All she had to do.

Even if it was meaningless—she had to protect Xu Xi.

But someone didn’t want Sylvia to do that.

“Sylvia, let me handle this… okay?”

A familiar figure appeared before her.

Blocking the wave of unspeakable power—

For her.

And for everyone in the tower.

At last, Sylvia saw him.

What he looked like now.

His life force was being reversed.

Vitality drained rapidly.

His white hair faded in color, deep wrinkles crept across his face, and his once youthful features withered.

A lifespan meant to stretch on was vanishing in moments.

“Sorry, Sylvia… for letting you see me like this,”

Xu Xi said, aware of her stunned stare.

He forced a small smile, raising a soul shield as he turned to face her.

The enemy—an immortal at the seven-ring level—was far beyond anything Xu Xi had expected.

Its might rewrote laws, reversed rules.

Even with all the soulfire he’d gathered, Xu Xi couldn’t withstand the crushing weight of that presence.