Leina, Jisha, and five soldiers walked out of the inn with gloomy faces.
Jisha turned to Leina, hesitating for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, she said weakly, "Prime Minister Leina, Iâm sorry. If only I hadnât brought you to Nolan, things wouldnât have turned out like this."
Leinaâs face remained expressionless and indifferent as she replied, "Itâs okay. After all, whether I accept his terms or not, the outcome will be the same. The Kingdom of Kaldarion will be destroyed regardless of my choice. So donât blame yourself."
Although relieved by her words, Jisha felt that something was wrong.
Leinaâs face, expression, and demeanor seemed very different from before, as if she had suffered severe trauma.
Jisha wanted to offer her healing magic, but in the end, she held back and said nothing.
Meanwhile, inside the inn, Nolan sipped his tea leisurely.
He then glanced at Cassiopeia, Sharon, and Draco, who were standing silently beside him.
"Why are you all so quiet? Sit down. Your tea is getting cold."
The three snapped out of their reverie and immediately took their seats, sitting beside and across from Nolan.
They drank their cold tea while eating the snacks laid out in front of them.
Cassiopeia turned to Nolan and asked, "Your Highness, have we really won this battle?"
Draco and Sharon also looked at Nolan, clearly waiting for his answer.
Nolan nodded. "Yes, weâve won. In about two hours, you and Draco will go to the white dragonâs lair and kill it. After that, head to the border and finish off the soldiers from the two enemy kingdoms. Rememberâdo it quickly. Iâm giving you one day to complete everything. Understood?"
Draco and Cassiopeia didnât dare argue and only nodded slightly.
Sharonâs gaze turned admiring as she looked at her brother, who now carried an air of authority.
He was completely different from the lazy and unreliable person she usually saw.
"Whatâs wrong?" Nolanâs curious voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Sharon shook her head. "Nothing. Iâm just impressed by your abilities. If you joined the battle for the throne, wouldnât you win easily?"
Cassiopeia and Draco were also curious. Becoming emperor was the dream of all princesâeven princesses couldnât escape that desire.
After all, leading hundreds of millions, even billions, of people while wielding enormous power was like a tempting wine.
Anyone who tasted it would be lost in a pleasure that was hard to escape.
Nolan chuckled softly. "Iâm not interested in becoming emperor. Itâs not my passion."
The answer was so simple that it almost felt out of place coming from a prince.
Still, when they recalled Nolanâs true nature, it no longer seemed surprising.
"All right, thatâs enough," Nolan said as he slowly stood up. "I have business to attend to. Cassiopeia, Dracoâdonât forget my instructions."
Without waiting for a response, Nolan grabbed his winter coat and walked out of the inn.
Sharon wanted to stop him, but in the end, she held back and could only let out a small sigh.
...
"Is it over?"
Nolan opened his eyes and saw his other self standing before him.
"Itâs over. And I also destroyed Leina. She was so desperate that she lost the ability to think," his other self said with a quiet chuckle.
Nolan simply smiled and gave a small nod.
After exchanging information, his other self slowly dissolved into black liquid and vanished from sight.
Ignoring the increasingly violent snowstorm outside, Nolan turned and stepped into the cave.
Inside, Sylvia sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. A tree-shaped symbol marked her forehead, and her ears were long like an elfâsâno, she was an elf.
Nolan had known this ever since he helped Sylvia break through into the legendary realm Beyond the World some time ago.
It turned out that Sylvia had been using high-level disguise magic all along, one that was completely undetectableâeven to him.
Of course, it wasnât because he lacked the ability but because he hadnât been aware of it.
If he wanted to, he could easily see through the illusion.
Nolan stood beside her and waited calmly. A moment later, Sylvia slowly opened her eyes.
She looked dazed, as if she had just woken from sleep.
"Where... am I?" she asked weakly, rubbing her eyes.
"Youâre in the cave Iâm guarding. Are you okay?"
Sylvia stiffened and turned toward him in shock.
"You... who are you?"
"That doesnât matter. Whatâs important is that youâre stable," Nolan replied indifferently.
He placed a hand on her forehead, and purple light flowed from his palm.
In that instant, Sylvia felt a flood of memories that had previously been blurred.
Her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "I fought the white dragon! Itâs dangerous! The dragon has reached catastrophe level, and I have to kill it!"
She stood up and was about to leave, but Nolan held her back.
"Donât go. Youâve just recovered. As for that monster, you donât need to worryâI killed it while you were unconscious."
"Killed it?" Sylviaâs eyes widened in horror.
She stared at Nolan and asked, "How is that possible? It was a catastrophe-level dragon! Its power could split this continent in half!"
Realizing that words alone wouldnât convince her, Nolan opened his left palm.
Suddenly, a massive white horn appeared before them.
When Sylvia saw it, her heart began to race.
"That horn... isnât it the white dragonâs?" She covered her mouth with her right hand.
In that moment, her doubts vanished, replaced by trust in the mysterious man.
However, in the next second, suspicion crept back inâhow could he have defeated it?
Even she hadnât been able to do so.
She studied his appearance more closely. Suddenly, the image of her idolâthe Singularity of Chaosâsurfaced in her mind.
"You... you..." She pointed at him with a trembling hand. "Donât tell me youâre... the Singularity of Chaos?"
Her voice rose, filled with disbelief.
The name Singularity of Chaos had emerged when chaos struck the western region of the Great Velmora Empire.
At that time, a catastrophe-level monster had ravaged the region to a terrifying degree.
Millions of people died, while the imperial palace was powerless against such an overwhelming monster.
Amid that despair, a figure appearedâa man wearing a demon mask, who killed the monster with ease, as if slicing tofu.
That manâs name became a sensation, one that remains unforgettable even todayâthe Singularity of Chaos.
Of course, the Singularity of Chaos was not entirely unknown, but he had never appeared in public before.
Not only himâthe other five Singularities, aside from the Singularity of Light, had never appeared before the people of this continent.
Because of that, the appearance of the Singularity of Chaos was so sensational that even Sylvia, who was staying in the Tower of Silence, heard the news.
She was one of his admirers and had hoped to meet him one day.
"Oh?" Nolan looked surprised. "You know about me?"
Hearing that, Sylviaâs last doubts vanished. With a radiant expression, she rushed toward Nolan and wrapped her arms around him.
"Singularity of Chaos, Iâve finally met you!"
Nolan: "..."