Chapter 648: An Exposed Identity

“Mmm…”

In a spacious, bright room, a soft groan echoed.

Shien Buztout opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling for a while before his mind cleared.

“Where am I…?” he murmured, confused.

A calm voice immediately responded, “You are back in your room at the Bigusler residence, Master Shien.”

Shien instantly became alert, recognizing the familiar, indifferent voice. He sat up and looked to the side.

“Lasha!” he called out instinctively.

It was Lasha, standing by his bed.

“You’re finally awake,” she said, her voice flat.

However, Shien noticed a fleeting look of relief in her eyes.

“Lasha…” Shien looked at her, then finally reacted, “Did I… fall asleep?”

“…Yes, you fell asleep,” Lasha said after a moment of silence, “Although you slept for quite a while, you’re unharmed, which is fortunate.”

Lasha handed Shien a sword she was holding.

“Your Holy Sword,” she said, as if referring to an ordinary iron sword.

“Holy Sword…” Shien took the sword reflexively, his memories returning.

“Right, I lost consciousness during the battle with Mara.”

He had exhausted himself using his full power to defeat Mara, who had achieved a transcendent state.

He remembered unsealing his Holy Sword, pushing [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] to its limit for a tenfold increase in power, and finally severing the descending “sun of death.”

He also remembered slaying Mara.

But at the same time, his magic power was completely drained by [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree].

Moreover, even with the protection of [Inner Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree] and the Holy Sword, he couldn’t completely block the impact of colliding with the “sun of death.” He felt a burning pain throughout his body and lost consciousness, falling from the sky.

That was where his memory ended.

Lasha, as if knowing what he was thinking, said,

“After that, Lady Lilith, having escaped, seemed to have caught you and brought you back here.”

That’s why Shien was lying here, asleep.

His injuries were completely healed, and his magic power fully restored.

No, more than fully restored.

Shien noticed his magic power reserves had increased, and his strength had also grown. If before, he could maintain [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] at full power for ten minutes, now, he could probably maintain it for about fifteen.

“Why did my magic power increase so much?” Shien wondered.

Then, he checked his current level.

—”Lv.95.”

“…No way?”

Shien was dumbfounded. Before, he was level seventy-nine. Now, he was ninety-five. He had gained sixteen levels!

“I… I’m Legendary Level now?” Shien was stunned, then understood.

“Difficult battles often lead to rapid growth and level increases. I gave it my all in that fight, almost dying and even slaying a Transcendent Level being. It’s understandable that my level increased so much.”

Mara, using some unknown power, had achieved a transcendent state. Being able to defeat her, with his potential not yet exhausted and his abnormal growth rate, naturally led to a significant level increase.

However, Shien felt that luck played a major role in his victory.

“Mara was already at her limit, unable to fight back.”

Otherwise, even with all his trump cards, he shouldn’t have been able to slay her with a single strike. Mara’s body was already in an abnormal state, which allowed Shien to finish her off after severing the “sun of death.”

Shien glanced at the Holy Sword in his hand, then looked at Lasha.

“How long have I been asleep?” he asked.

“Three days,” Lasha replied impassively, “Your injuries healed two days ago, but your magic power took longer to recover, fully restoring last night.”

That’s why Shien woke up this morning. If it were anyone else, it wouldn’t have been so easy.

But Shien’s [Inner Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree] not only provided incredible defense but also allowed him to quickly recover from injuries by consuming magic power. Combined with the magic power recovery effect of [Inner Vision of Heaven’s Decree], he fully recovered in just two days.

“Then what’s the current situation?” Shien asked as he got out of bed, “Where are Diere and Lilith?”

“Miss Lilith is guarding outside, seemingly blaming herself for not being able to help,” Lasha replied, taking clothes from a nearby rack and helping Shien dress, “Miss Diere is also injured and has been resting.”

“What about the others?” Shien frowned, “Are they alright?”

“Commander Rockto and Miss Tilly are fine,” Lasha replied slowly, “But Princess Capeline is in a bit of a difficult situation.”

Then, Lasha explained everything that happened.

After Shien defeated Mara and was taken away by Lilith, the battle ended.

Due to the clash between Shien and Mara, the Imperial Capital suffered a massive impact and was half-destroyed, with only a few buildings protected by barriers remaining intact, including the Bigusler residence.

The citizens didn’t suffer heavy casualties, seemingly thanks to the Adventurer’s Guild protecting them.

The Imperial Palace, however, was almost completely destroyed, the epicenter of the impact. Even its highest-level barrier couldn’t protect it, and it was reduced to ruins.

Then, Rockto and Tilly led a rescue team, saving Diere, Capeline, Harvis, the Broken Blade knights, and the survivors in the palace.

Saliro and Geno, however, along with the nobles who conspired with them, fled the Imperial Capital with their families.

Clearly, Mara’s death and Shien’s appearance made them feel that their struggle for power was hopeless.

Therefore, they fled, not daring to stay in the Imperial Capital.

“Now, Commander Rockto has regained control of the Imperial Knight Order and is leading them in handling the aftermath in the Imperial Capital,” Lasha said, “Those eleven monsters summoned by Imperial Consort Mara haven’t been dealt with yet, and their whereabouts are unknown. Many are worried that they’re hiding underground, causing a lot of anxiety.”

Lasha was referring to the eleven Demon Lord Larvae. They were all Legendary-level and possessed the ability to shift between reality and illusion. Unless it was a weapon specifically designed to counter them, like the Holy Sword, it was difficult to defeat them.

Naturally, they survived.

However, with Mara’s death, their whereabouts were unknown.

“Lady Yulin seems to be searching for them, wanting to finish them off. She’s been flying around in the sky. Princess Capeline also dispatched the Broken Blade Knight Order and the Royal Knights, cooperating with the Imperial Knight Order, to search for them. But Princess Capeline is also injured, and Prince Harvis’s condition isn’t very good. The situation in the Imperial Capital hasn’t improved much.”

As Lasha reported, she lowered her eyes.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“What’s wrong?” Shien asked, seeing Lasha like this, while adjusting his sleeves.

“…I must apologize to you, Master Shien,” Lasha said after a moment of silence, “Miss Leni is gone.”

Shien froze.

“Gone?” He frowned, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Lasha shook her head calmly, “That day, milady and I went out to protect the Bigusler residence from the shockwave. When we returned, Miss Leni was gone.”

Hearing this, Shien also fell silent.

But after a moment, he relaxed his brow.

“Forget it, don’t worry about her,” Shien said, “Although her secrets are still unknown, now isn’t the time to be concerned about her.”

Yes. Now wasn’t the time to worry about other things.

Shien was more concerned about something else.

“My identity has been exposed, right?”

Shien voiced his guess.

“Yes,” Lasha looked up at Shien, “The fact that Master Shien is the Hero is now public knowledge.”

Shien smiled wryly.

As expected, it had been exposed.

This was going to be a big problem.

“The Human Realm seems to be quite restless recently,” Lasha said to Shien, “Master Shien can experience it yourself if you go outside.”

“Alright,” Shien sighed.

He knew that from today onwards, he would never have peace again.

Perhaps he might even become a sinner of this world.

But he didn’t regret his impulsive actions.

Rather, Shien wished he could go back to the moment he confronted Mara.

“I should have gone all out from the beginning and eliminated her.”

Unfortunately, even if he had, Mara would have still activated her trump card and achieved her goal, right?

Anyway, the current situation was likely to become very troublesome.

How should he face it?

What a headache…