I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

And deities are also part of the rules of the real world.

Duke had experience using the Spear of "I Want" and a certain degree of control over Cecil's legendary destiny. He tried to control this brilliant holy light and then began to ignite the divine fire according to his knowledge.

"If we can't find a ray of hope, then we can just create one in our own hands, can't we?"

The despicable methods used by outsiders to bypass the checkpoints highlight a simple and brutal approach.

But skipping class really works, bro! Skipping class is fun for a while, and skipping class all the time is even more fun!

At the bottom of the dark sea, a sacred light transformed into flames, igniting Duke's soul. It did not harm him; on the contrary, it helped him expel the invasion of negative emotions.

Soon, Duke's body lit up, the bright divine fire igniting him and emitting a dazzling radiance. It also engulfed Amber and Cecil, whom he was holding. However, the flames did not harm the three of them. Instead, they dispelled the dark sea, allowing them to see everything clearly and echoing the distant light of hope.

Suddenly, a glimmer of "hope" appeared in Pandora's box, and the fragile balance that had lasted for countless years was easily shattered.

The dark sea began to recede, like fragile shadows before the two light sources, driven to a corner, no longer regaining its former dominance, no longer violently venting its negative emotions. It was only then that Duke and his companions realized that the dark sea deeper within was not simply about "negative emotions."

If they proceeded in this methodical manner, they would soon encounter various enemies—plague, disaster, death… countless calamities lay ahead. However, these things melted away as easily as snow meeting the sun before the “two rays of hope.”

Of course, this has nothing to do with Duke and others.

"Kazu—"

With a crisp cracking sound, they left Pandora's Box.

Chapter 382 The Riddler Doesn't Lie to the Riddler

Duke and his two companions leaped out of Pandora's Box, and then they all heard a crisp cracking sound. Pandora's Box shattered into dust, scattering deep beneath the floating city.

Having finally escaped the Dark Sea, Duke felt as if he had been suffocating for a long time and had finally returned to air. He gasped for breath a few times, then hurriedly called out, "Cecil, prepare for battle! Amber, get ready to watch the show!"

Cecil: "?"

Are you polite?

Although Duke reacted quickly enough, before he could even see Eve waiting in ambush outside Pandora's Box, he grabbed onto their only reliable backer with Amber, but the situation and reality still exceeded his expectations.

Because at this point, the appearance of Pandora's Box was somewhat different from before.

This place was originally a small, dark room. Even when Eve led them in, the lighting was dim, and the interior was not clearly visible. But now it had changed, becoming bright and clean, as if it were daytime. However, what illuminated the room was not light, but a dazzling star map that appeared on the wall.

There was no trace of Eve in the room, as if she had never been there at all.

Duke sniffed the air in the room and detected a stale smell, like the kind that hadn't been ventilated for days. Amber, standing beside him, frowned and said bluntly, "No one has set foot here for seven days."

Duke didn't know whether Amber made her judgment based on spatial abilities or temporal abilities, but her judgment was most likely correct.

"The flow of time inside and outside Pandora's Box is clearly different. How much time has passed outside? A week?"

"It was ten days. Eve waited for you for three days, but something happened in the underworld, so she left."

A voice that didn't belong to the three of them rang out, and Cecil immediately became alert. He took a step forward and stood in front of Duke and Amber, extending his left hand to grasp a dazzling beam of holy light, and coldly shouted, "Who goes there?!"

"It's me."

With the sound of high heels clicking on the ground, Ida strolled down the stairs and appeared in front of Duke and the others. She smiled slightly and said softly, "Congratulations, Cecil. I never thought Pandora's Box could help you become a legend."

Duke glanced at Cecil in surprise. They had just escaped from Pandora's Box and hadn't even had time to exchange information. They were about to hear the news of Cecil's successful advancement from Ida. Duke hadn't expected Guangbao to step into the realm of legend so quietly. He had thought that on the day she advanced to legend, she would at least defeat a legend one-on-one, and then there would be some kind of celestial anomaly, with the God of Light sending down an envoy to confront her.

Surprisingly, she completed the promotion quietly without making a sound.

But Ida didn't care whether Cecil had truly ascended to the Legendary level—it wasn't important to her. On one hand, as a mute, she had seen plenty of witches who had just become Legendary, and it wouldn't affect her plans. On the other hand… Cecil, as a quasi-Legendary, was actually exceptionally strong. She already possessed Legendary-level combat power; now she had merely fixed her "temporary Legendary" status into a "permanent Legendary" one, essentially without much change.

For Ida, Cecil was merely a trap and a calculated scheme to lure Duke into a trap. The only important person was Duke himself—Amber, who was by his side, also seemed to have benefited greatly, but not nearly as much as Duke.

Ida only cared whether Duke had ignited the divine fire.

She stared intently at Duke's body for a long time before finally letting out a sigh of relief and nodding in satisfaction, saying:

“Excellent, Duke, you have ignited the divine fire. Although it is the divine fire called ‘Hope’ and not the divine fire related to ‘Stars’, it is much better than nothing.”

"What is she saying? I don't understand."

"Duke, do you understand what she's saying?"

Cecil and Amber leaned close to Duke's ears, one on each side, uttering slightly different but essentially the same questions. However, while Ida's riddle-like words could confuse the two girls, they couldn't confuse Duke. He sighed, confirming a certain suspicion in his mind, and further realizing why he hadn't doubted it during their last meeting.

The Ida they knew was a mute who couldn't speak, but the Ida in front of them could speak normally, so Duke subconsciously ignored this possibility.

And she was Ida, the mute woman they knew.

"Do you still want me to become a god?" Duke frowned and said irritably, "Ida, what exactly are you plotting? If I become a god, wouldn't that be very disadvantageous for you? Whether you become a god in this world or in your original world, won't you ultimately take away the position of the mute? If what you want is to take back yourself, then I will help you find a way to separate you. Please stop causing trouble."

After saying that, Duke thought for a moment and added:

"Honestly, I'm not qualified to be a god."

In the original world, the only god of the floating city was the mute. In this parallel world, the only one who could potentially become a god in the floating city is the Little Prince. On the surface, Duke doesn't seem qualified to become a god in either world.

But in Ida's eyes, it was not like that: "You possess a divine body, ignite the divine fire, and gain the legitimacy and sanctity to save the world from the brink of destruction. I can even smell the scent of 'rule authority' on you. You are far more qualified than the 'Ida' of this world."

As the two riddlers began their conversation, Cecil and Amber started chatting amongst themselves. Clearly, neither of them understood Duke and Ida's riddle duel, which was full of hidden meanings, and fortunately, they weren't listening to either of them.

"Duke, what you lack now is followers... and even that most difficult thing, didn't you have plenty of those in your original world?"

Ida blinked earnestly, almost as if she was about to say, "The riddle teller doesn't lie to the riddle teller."

But the more she showed her "goodwill," the more annoyed Duke became. He frowned and said impatiently, "Stop with the nonsense and just say it... what exactly is your purpose?"

"Save the floating city and end its entanglement with the other dimension."

Her words silenced everyone for a moment, but Ida didn't explain further. She snapped her fingers and continued, "Of course, this is just a short-term goal. The long-term goal... should be to see the stars and the sea."

She gazed at the glittering starlight on the walls of the small dark room, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Chapter 383 The Final Curtain Rises

Ida made a great vow to pursue the myth and eventually succeeded in becoming the mute guardian of the floating city, but no one knows why she embarked on this arduous path in the first place.

Now, Date herself has given her answer.

She wanted to save the floating city; she wanted to end the entanglement between the floating city and the other dimension.

“The latter is understandable; the Witch Game might be a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment. But where does the former come from?” Duke frowned. “None of the floating cities are facing an apocalypse that could bring about their destruction, are they?”

But at this point, Duke's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered the scene he saw when he drew the "Mythical Armed" series—how was that scene any different from the apocalypse?

Are all of those things true?

"It seems you've already figured it out; I don't need to explain, do I?"

Ida smiled slightly, then clapped her hands, causing the starlight illuminating the room to gradually dim, returning it to its original state of darkness. Then she extended a finger, and in the suddenly pitch-black room, her outstretched finger seemed to be touched by a few specks of starlight, still radiating light.

"The rest, go out and see for yourselves. Alright, I should go now."

After saying that, she turned around without looking back, walked gracefully up the stairs behind her in her high heels, and slowly made her way up.

"Duke, shouldn't we stop her?"

Cecil watched Ida's departing figure, listening to the sound of her high heels clicking on the ground, and rolled up her sleeves, looking eager to try.

Although she wasn't very bright and couldn't understand the reasons behind the previous story, Duke had already explained everything to her on the island inside Pandora's Box. She already knew that the reason they were swallowed by Pandora's Box was because of the trap set by Ida.

Guangbao initially had some goodwill towards the so-called "Dawn Organization," but now that feeling had almost disappeared—clearly, when faced with a choice between a man and himself, Guangbao would choose the man without hesitation.

Moreover, Cecil, who had just been promoted to Legend, was eager to find a worthy enemy to test his fighting prowess.

"No need, it's pointless."

Duke frowned. He actually wanted to stop Ida and ask her what she meant by "going out and seeing for yourself"... Could it be that the so-called "doomsday" had already appeared outside?

As two parallel worlds, do they share any similarities in the event of "the end of the world"?

"Forget it, the original floating city was already on the verge of collapse. If I don't take the little prince back to save it, the outcome will be the same regardless of whether there's an apocalypse or not. Instead of worrying about something we can find out soon, it's better to..."

Duke clicked his tongue, looked at his inventory, and took out a map-shaped item.

[Item Name: Star Chart]

[Item Description: A brilliant star map recording the sun, moon, and stars; the prophetic words guiding people to look up at the sky; the driving force behind the creators of the floating city; the sacred path upon which this great city was initially formed.]

[Item Effect: The divine authority initially formed by the floating city: "Stars".]

When Duke took the star map out of his inventory, the starlight in the dark room, which had dimmed, shone brightly again. The room, which kept turning bright and dark, confused both Guangbao and Sejingling. The girls all looked at Duke, wanting an explanation from him.

Duke didn't know the underlying principle, nor did he know the relationship between this small dark room and the divine authority: "Stars." He simply handed the star map in his hand to Amber and the others, and instructed them: "Take this star map and compare it with the star map on the wall of this room, and see if there is a corresponding part."

After pushing the tedious work onto his two girlfriends, Duke, eager to be a gigolo, brazenly "slacked off" under their disdainful gazes. He leaned against the side, closed his eyes, and looked as if he was taking a rest. Soon after, he began to breathe evenly and actually fell asleep.

"How can he be so lazy?" Guangbao complained angrily. "He just dumped the work on the two of us and then fell asleep. Doesn't he have any shame?"

“Sister Cecil, based on my experience, he should still be awake.”

“So what if I’m awake? Can’t I speak up just because I’m awake? Is there no justice in this world? Is there no law? Is it right for him to be a gigolo?” Guangbao shouted, gesturing wildly, but his body obediently examined the stars on the wall and compared them with the star map. “If he’s so capable, why doesn’t he actually be my gigolo just once? I… uh, I didn’t say anything.”

Duke, who was pretending to be asleep: "..."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

Amber rolled her eyes, her face saying, "I get it, sister, stop fooling yourself." Then, the sly elf's eyes darted around as she pondered, "Sister Cecil, you really have become a legend, haven't you?"

"Oh? Yes."

“Oh, so that’s how it is…” The lecherous elf perked up immediately, his gaze shifting back and forth between Cecil and Duke several times, hesitating for a moment before finally saying something. “Well… never mind, let’s talk about it tonight.”

"Huh? What is it that we have to wait until tonight to talk about?"

"A major event that will affect your sexual happiness for the rest of your life."

"?"

"Sister Cecil, let's sleep in the same room tonight."

"Sure, but I still don't know why?"

Duke, who was still pretending to be asleep, decided it was better to pretend he hadn't heard anything.

Although I always feel that this little lamb who knows nothing but shining is going to be corrupted by this big, long-eared wolf tonight, it has nothing to do with Duke—they are his best friends who are going to sleep in the same room, not him, Duke.

He and the two girls were sharing a room, so it wouldn't be too late for Duke to take responsibility later.

cough.

In short, Duke appeared to be resting with his eyes closed until he fell asleep, but in reality, he was looking at the system's lottery interface, preparing to use the two lottery chances he had just obtained by conquering Pandora's Box to try and get some things from the limited pool.