It felt so good to be close to the witch!

"Now, Lady Mayna's memory is stuck at the moment she left Witch Island on her own and was about to begin her travels. In other words, in her memory, there is no Duke or Princess Fuma."

Sensing the border duke and Fuma's disappointment, Shanika explained, "Of course, it's not entirely hopeless."

"Memory is a mysterious thing. It is engraved in the true spirit and may only need a trigger to be fully restored."

After listening to Shanica's explanation, Roy immediately understood the current situation.

"I'm sorry..." Mayina kept her head down, like a child who had done something wrong.

She could sense a strange connection between herself and the dejected man and girl in front of her, but she had absolutely no memory of them. This stark contradiction between reality and memory made her face grow even paler.

"How can this be your fault?" The border duke said with heartache when he noticed Mayna's pale face. "Don't think about anything, just get some rest."

"Memories, though it's regrettable to lose them, will always be restored as long as you're alive and healthy."

"Besides..." A confident smile appeared on the border duke's face: "Even if we really can't remember, we can just get to know each other again, right?"

"Let's start now."

“My name is Breton Soros, a knight from the Soros family. Beautiful lady, I look forward to your guidance.”

The border duke gracefully performed a noble greeting, using the same etiquette and words he had used on the day they first met decades ago.

"Hello... I'm Mayna, Mayna Geitner. Please, please take care of me," Mayna said softly.

"..." Fuma, dressed in close-fitting crimson scale armor, stood to the side, pursed her lips, and remained silent.

“Ms. Mayina has just woken up. I’ll take her to rest first. You can get to know each other more slowly once she’s feeling a bit better,” Shanica said, leading Mayina to the room that had been arranged in advance.

Soon, only Roy and a few others remained in the courtyard.

After a few seconds of silence, the border duke smiled and said, "Don't be so somber. It's a stroke of luck that we were able to rescue them safely."

“I need to go back to the Stonewall in a few days.”

"There can't be no one over there forever."

Upon hearing this, Roy couldn't help but ask, "Your Grace, do you intend to continue guarding the empire's borders?"

"Now that Lady Mayna has been rescued, and you are no longer the insignificant person who could be exploited at will by the Empire, why bother guarding the border?"

“If you continue to guard the border, you will become an easy target.”

The border duke smiled. "The situation is indeed as you say."

"However, my continued defense of the border is not simply because I am now a member of the imperial nobility."

"On the one hand, if no one guards the border and the Kolei Empire is allowed to advance unimpeded, it will inevitably cause countless casualties. I was born in the Rafa province and have a deep affection for this land. I cannot bear to see this scene."

"On the other hand, the province of Lafa holds a very, very important position."

Roy frowned slightly: "An important position?"

"Yes." The border duke nodded: "Although the matter of the temple is shrouded in mystery and makes it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood."

"But I still managed to glean some clues from it."

Roy perked up and listened attentively.

"When I fought against the flesh and blood giant that the Chief of Divine Punishment supposedly 'evolved,' I felt a chilling fluctuation emanating from it that did not belong to this world."

"Deep and silent, like an endless abyss, it is hard to imagine what a terrifying world it must be."

Therefore, I made a bold guess:

"The series of things the temple has done are very likely related to this terrible other world."

"However, even for a demigod like the Pope of the Temple, who has been around for many years, and with the Temple's hundreds of years of accumulation and development, opening the gate to the world and allowing creatures from other worlds to enter this realm is by no means an easy task."

The border duke looked at Roy and said in a deep voice, "You should know about the Blood Moon War more than five hundred years ago, right?"

Roy nodded: "I know. It is said that before the Blood Moon War, there were many beings above the legendary level, and they were not 'demigods' who were created out of desperation when there was no other way, but true 'divine beings'."

"After the Blood Moon War, the world underwent a dramatic change, and divine beings could no longer be born."

“You’re right,” the Border Duke affirmed Roy’s statement. “But there’s one thing you might not be aware of.”

"That is, after the Blood Moon War, the world level of the continent of Letel fell. Although the internal space became fragile, even legendary limit power could disturb it, the external space became unimaginably solid."

"You can think of the continent of Leitel today as a special structure encased in two layers of protective shields, solid on the outside but fragile on the inside."

“Beings from outside the world cannot enter, and we who are inside can only break through this fragile inner space, helpless in the face of the solid outer space.”

"As far as I know, there is only one way to break through outer space."

At this point, the border duke paused for a moment, then solemnly said, "That is to create an unprecedented array to break open a gap in outer space."

"Such an extraordinary formation naturally requires an immeasurable amount of energy as its foundation."

"Only by using all the giant magic main veins and large magic veins of the two great empires as energy sources can there be even a slight possibility of achieving this."

"Within the province of Rafa, besides the large magic vein hidden at Star Lake, there is another large magic vein, the largest of all, named 'The Eye of Magna,' which is located not far behind the Solid Stone Wall."

"Therefore, as long as we hold these two large magic energy points, we will have the upper hand."

After listening to the border duke's account, Roy's eyes widened.

"Your Grace, from what sources did you acquire this knowledge?"

The border duke said slowly, "The Soros family is an ancient family that has existed since the founding of the empire. There are only a few words about it in the documents. Moreover, when I was young, I traveled to the continent of Leitel and entered a very mysterious ruin. There were records about the structure of the world inside. Combining the two, this is what I am telling you."

"Unfortunately, I was not strong enough at the time and only explored less than a quarter of the ruins. After I came out, I could no longer explore it again."

"The Black Mist Forbidden Zone..." Roy murmured.

“Yes,” the border duke sighed. “Even demigods cannot stay in the black mist for long. Only during the black mist’s decline period, which occurs every ten years or so, is it possible to explore it deeply and for a long time.”

"The restricted area is extremely mysterious and contains a large number of terrifying things."

“The continent of Leytel…a two-layered world structure…” Roy murmured.

Having lived in this world for so long, this was the first time he had ever learned the full name of this world.

Based on what the Border Duke said and the information he knew about the "Abyss," Roy knew that the Border Duke's guess was highly likely.

This approach has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that as long as they hold onto the province of Lafah, they can remain unchanged and adapt to any situation. The disadvantage is that by holding onto the province of Lafah, they are in the open and cannot infiltrate in the shadows, putting them in a very passive position.

"call……"

Roy took a deep breath and said, "It seems that we really can't abandon the province of Rafa. However, with our current strength, we might not be able to cope if the temple launches a full-scale attack."

"Don't worry." The border duke waved his hand. "I have already considered it. I will set off for the Empire soon to invite the chief knight of the Twelve Pillars of Radiance to stay in Rafa Province for a few days."

“That guy is a neutral party and he owes me a favor. It’s a bit difficult to get him to fight the temple with me, but inviting him to Rafa province for a while to defend against a possible attack from the temple shouldn’t be a big problem, provided there’s a fast way to travel back and forth.”

“I, him, Lady Finage, and you, Roy, are four demigods in total. It would be better if the temple didn’t come, but now that they have, we’ll definitely teach them a lesson.”

“That’s good.” Roy nodded.

If what the border duke said is true, then he can rest assured a lot.

"By the way, Your Grace, do you know a way to quickly improve your Battle Qi level?" Roy asked. "Right now, my physical strength far surpasses my Battle Qi level. If I can quickly improve my Battle Qi level, I will also have stronger strength to deal with the Temple."

“I’m sorry.” The border duke shook his head. “I don’t have any better solutions either. You’re already a Legendary Two-Star, and top-tier magic crystals have lost their effect on you.”

"The only rare artifact that could help a legendary two-star character break through to three stars could probably only exist within the mysterious Black Mist Forbidden Zone."

"The Duke's mansion does not have such a rare item now."

"Is that so..." Roy was a little disappointed, but he didn't take it too seriously.

However, he did keep the Black Mist Forbidden Zone in mind.

The original owner's father and mother are now trapped in the Black Mist Forbidden Zone. If given the chance, it would be worthwhile to take a trip there...

"As for battle qi, you still have to rely on yourself. Your current cultivation speed is already very fast."

The border duke stood up and looked at Latie beside him: "There's no time to lose, Latie. Could you please take me to the capital?"

Latti didn't speak, but simply nodded coolly.

The successful rescue of Mayna improved her perception of the Border Duke somewhat, and given that it was indeed a critical moment, she naturally wouldn't refuse his request.

With a flash of silver magical light, the two figures quickly disappeared into the courtyard.

After the two left, Roy turned around and looked at Fuma, who was staring blankly ahead, and walked up to her, waving his right hand vigorously in front of her eyes a few times.

"..."

Fuma blinked, her slightly dazed gaze quickly returning to normal. Looking at Roy, who was staring at her with concern, she forced a smile: "I'm sorry, I..."

Roy said softly, "Princess Fuma, you should go and rest too. You've had a hard time these past few days."

Fuma nodded silently.

Watching the girl's lonely figure disappear into the distance, Roy sighed.

He understood the girl's feelings.

From the time Fuma could remember, there was no image of her mother in her memory. Her memories of her mother were only those portraits that were colorful but lacked warmth.

She knew what had happened and understood that the temple was the culprit behind her separation from her mother. Therefore, over the years, she had never resented her parents and always looked forward to the moment she would see her mother again.

But now that they've met again, her mother has lost her memory and doesn't even remember who she is...

Such a disparity is incredibly cruel for a girl who has lacked maternal love since childhood.

Roy sighed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do.

Memory is a elusive thing; even Shanika couldn't grasp it, let alone him.

In the current situation, Fuma can only rely on herself to get through it.

"I... need to become stronger!"

Roy said this to himself.

The fate of the border duke's family made him deeply aware of the crisis.

If one day, due to his lack of strength, someone important to him is captured, he will regret it deeply.

Strength, strength... Only great strength can protect everything!

Roy turned around and headed towards the room.

He needs to continue his cultivation, striving to break through to the legendary three-star level of battle qi as soon as possible.