Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

No wonder the Dragon God, despite being reborn with his memories intact, didn't just parachute into the starting village to kill him.

So it's because the point of rebirth was precisely when she was merging with the [Star God's Position], so she naturally couldn't move.

The situation is now quite clear—

Basically, the war will begin two months from now, when Lilith's last remaining faith disappears.

Whether it's the resurgence of the Dragon God or the turmoil in the empire caused by the complete annihilation of the Star God faith, it will erupt at that time.

In other words, Rhodes also needs to reach a sufficiently strong level before that time.

“But there’s one thing,” Charlotte suddenly interrupted Rhodes’ thoughts, looking into his eyes as she said, “It’s true that the Dragon God’s movements are restricted, but her subordinates, that is, her imperial subjects, can still receive her divine decrees.”

"You understand what I mean, Rhodes. This means that those people in the Dragon God Empire will try to assassinate you or disrupt the situation."

“Yes, I understand.” Rhodes nodded.

“Very clever…” Charlotte said with a smile. “Then I don’t really need to say anything more. As for how to prevent threats from foreign lands, I’ll leave that to you, the great hero.”

After all, the integration of their spiritual worlds is already quite close.

"I still need to send you back as soon as possible, otherwise it wouldn't be good if you were corrupted by my spirit."

"And what about you, Charlotte?" Rhodes suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Charlotte blinked slightly, her blue hair falling gently.

"What is your attitude towards rebirth, or is it your choice?"

“Ah…” Charlotte continued to laugh, “If I could, I would prefer to stay on the sidelines and watch the great hero bring peace to the world.”

"However, since I promised to help the Linlank Empire resolve some troubles, I will naturally take action, to this extent."

"That's enough."

“Is that so?” Charlotte bent down and stretched, but suddenly stopped.

"Oh right, I seem to have forgotten to mention something."

"Hmm?" Rod asked back.

At this moment, the purity of the spiritual world has reached its peak, as if it were enveloped in the warm spring sun.

Charlotte simply straightened up slightly, bent over, extended her index finger, and smiled gently:

"Thank you for saving my soul."

The last word fell.

The world collapsed together in that instant.

……

...

In the real world, within [Carmen].

Rhodes didn't stay in the mental world for very long, not even an hour.

Both Lilith and Cecilia clearly sensed that the aura belonging to the [Demon Seed] had been separated from Charlotte.

The pupa's aura returned to its sacred state.

At that moment, Lilith closed the books the witches had left behind here, her voice ethereal:

"Rhodes is about to come out."

“Hmm, I can take care of these little things and go back to rest soon.” Cecilia’s voice was equally detached, her gaze fixed on Rhodes. “But I still want to say something…”

"Lilith, I really don't understand."

Lilith's eyes were cold, and she still held the book in her hands: "What don't you understand?"

“I don’t understand what right you have to stay by his side.” Cecilia rested her chin on her hand, her tone indifferent. “Regardless of whether Rhodes’ death was because of you, or whether you actually liked Rhodes.”

"At least one fact remains unchanged: you have deprived the knight who most desired honor of the honor he deserved."

Cecilia smiled:

"I think if I were you, I would definitely give up all of this."

After all, if he's so tongue-tied that he can't even do something like this, then I'll definitely let him go.

Otherwise? Stay by his side, not knowing when your emotions will explode again, unable to give an explanation, and letting him continue to be heartbroken because of you?

Lilith bit her lip, her gaze meeting Cecilia's.

Neither of them showed any sign of backing down; their gazes were like needles as they frantically tried to force the other away.

"So you think I should just leave?" Lilith asked.

"Of course... Although I didn't live to the end and therefore don't know the so-called truth, you understand, right?"

"Don't you understand how low the chances are that Natalie would say you're a good person? Right now, you're trying to get Rhodes to believe you, you're just driving yourself into a dead end."

Cecilia chuckled, her eyes indifferent:

“Lilith, no matter how you try to change, you’ll always be the same arrogant person you are, and no matter what you do, you’ll always be thinking about your own interests.”

"How cruel... God. To give yourself even the slightest chance, you burden your beloved with such heavy pressure."

“I…” Lilith’s emotions were ignited after a long time.

She clearly wanted to say something in rebuttal, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.

His fingers froze in mid-air, and as he clenched his fist, he lowered his eyes.

After all, although Cecilia deliberately misinterpreted her meaning, the final consequences were indeed no different from what Cecilia said.

By clinging to Rhodes' side, you're only increasing the likelihood of him becoming upset—that's an absolute fact.

But she was unwilling to accept it, and she understood even more that she absolutely did not want to be forced to separate when two people clearly liked each other.

Her breathing became increasingly rapid, and as her thoughts drifted to their peak, she cried out:

"I just want the truth to come out, I just don't want things to be distorted..."

Lilith's words were filled with resentment, and even Cecilia could sense the exact emotion behind them.

Cecilia looked away and said coldly, "I can't be bothered to say anything. Rhodes is already back."

Yes.

The moment the words fell, all the strangeness erupted—

First, Rhodes' body twitched slightly, his fingertips trembled, and his eyelids twitched.

This means that Rhodes' soul has returned to his body.

At the same time, he opened his eyes, his sense of touch returned to normal, and he could clearly feel that his hand was still touching the pupa.

"It's back to normal."

Rhodes gazed at the pupa, his breath calm.

At this moment, the encased pupa began to wriggle wildly, making a loud thumping sound like a beating heart.

The moment Rhodes' spirit returned also signified the completion of Charlotte's reconstruction.

The aura of a deity began to spread, and even though it only appeared to be the aura of someone who had been promoted six times, it was still not to be underestimated.

But strangely, the moment Rhodes pulled his hand back, he clearly felt that he was holding a strange spherical object.

His expression froze when he looked at his hand with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

A jet-black sphere...

The four characters "【Demon God's Resentment】" instantly appeared in my mind.

Indeed, this appears to be the remnant of resentment left after being stripped and pulverized from the deep-sea deity.

This seems to be a natural byproduct of Rhodes's use of his spirit to melt the behemoth.

Similar to a Poké Ball.

“Interesting. Now I can really try to fuse with the Fallen Demon God Seed… if I have this remnant.”

This is true.

Mirador once said that as long as the pollution comes from the outside, it can be resisted and refined by the spirit.

The contamination in his hand was clearly extremely weak, easily annihilated.

In other words, Rhodes could safely try to eat this thing, feel the reactions of the other divine seeds in his body, and then try to fuse with the [Demon God Seed].

An unexpected bonus.

but--

In that instant, Rhodes was also grabbed by the collar by Lilith, and he took several steps back, clutching his waist, to avoid the aftershocks of the Deep Sea God's impact.

As Rhodes smelled the familiar scent of the young girl, much of the turmoil in his heart subsided.

“Rhodes, welcome back,” Lilith said softly.

“It was a success,” Rod responded gently.

"Hmm." Lilith replied simply as always, "What do we do now...?"

"Retreat, or Carmen will cause trouble for Charlotte. Let's get out of here while she's back to normal."

Rhodes watched the pupa's frenzied eruption, and he could clearly sense that if they continued to stay there, they would be overwhelmed by the power of the hatching.

Charlotte's aura grew stronger and stronger, becoming as scorching as the sun.

The deep-sea's wandering, accompanied by a whale-like low moan, is tearing at Rhodes and his companions' souls—

“Okay.” Lilith nodded.

"Are you leaving, darling?" Cecilia gazed at the enormous pupa and picked up her other body.

Undeniably, the sense of dissonance created by the simultaneous appearance of two Cecilia bodies before Rhodes' eyes was quite intense.

"Yes, act quickly. Once Carmen starts to distort, it'll be a spatial strangulation."

“Hmm.” Cecilia reached out a hand and grabbed Rhode’s right hand, as if she wanted to pull him over.

"Let go," Lilith said quickly and coldly, stopping Cecilia.