The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

"Sometimes I can't even understand my own actions. All I know is that I can't escape your phantom."

"When will all this end? Will it be the moment I achieve my wish and truly win people's hearts?"

"But why do I feel fear whenever I think about understanding people's hearts..."

"I understand neither humans nor demons now."

He gently held Clodia's letter in his hand, murmuring to himself.

"Perhaps I am no longer so eager to understand people's hearts."

"But Corodia, I will continue my journey, continue to observe, learn, and understand."

"If I could see you again... if..."

******

Author's Note:

Volume 5 concludes here. Compared to the fast-paced Shadow World section of the first four volumes, the Shadow World portion of Volume 5 feels more like storytelling. The novel is nearing its end, focusing more on filling in plot holes. It's definitely noticeable that concluding the story is many times more difficult than starting it.

It's a bit like driving a race car. At the start, you can race freely with plenty of room to improvise, but the closer you get to the finish line, the more you need to carefully consider things to bring the car to a stop, and the less room you have to improvise. However, I've already successfully completed five of the seven volumes, and I believe I can write the final two volumes well, giving this story a satisfying conclusion.

Thank you all for your continued support. I am truly grateful. See you tomorrow for Volume 6, the Empire arc!

339 Dekan is back

When Dekan groggily opened his eyes.

He instinctively rubbed his fingers together, only to find that the letter in his hand was gone.

It's like having a short, pleasant dream, leaving only a faint memory after waking up.

"I'm back."

Dekan's gaze gradually focused as he looked at the pitch-black space, the familiar threshold of the Shadow World settlement.

Soon, the task interface began to update, just like it had done before.

[The Throne of Thorns and Snow in the Shadow World has been cleared]

[Calculation in progress]

[Evaluation being generated]

[Since this is for single-player entry, individual payment will be used.]

Challenger: Dekan

[In this story-driven cinematic world, the mission was accomplished with a high degree of historical accuracy.]

[I have achieved the following]

[A Healer's Compassionate Heart - May You Never Have to Touch Medicine Again in Your Lifetime]

【Great Love Demon Lord SSS - Tame 3 seventh-tier demons (Demon Officer), Release 1 eighth-tier demon (Demon Hospital Director), Abduct 1 eighth-tier demon (Talomati of Sanctuary), Dominate 2 eighth-tier demons (Pusel of the Abyss, Olive of Purgatory), Sacrifice 1 ninth-tier demon (Irenos of Annihilation)】

[The Nightmare of the Demon Race SSS - The legendary demon race that truly inspired fear in all demons]

[Etiquette and Music Improvement C - This time you still didn't damage any pianos, and you learned how to use the baking tools correctly]

……

[Historian S – has confirmed that the predecessors of both the Sun God Cult and the Church of Resurrection were the Holy Ritual Church, and has preliminarily determined the relationship between the Holy Kingdom, the Demon Realm, and your world.]

What is kidnapping?

The master's voice echoed in Dekan's mind.

She was clearly very dissatisfied with the film world's evaluation.

Dekan: "Exactly. Can a brother who became wealthy in a foreign land and searched for his seriously injured sister who had been separated from him for many years during a time of war, and went through all sorts of hardships to bring her home be called abduction?"

Master: "?"

Your story seems a bit fabricated, doesn't it?

Do you think I haven't seen the plot?!

[Achievements summarized, evaluations generated]

The war between the Holy Kingdom and the Demon Realm has raged to this day, threatening the world with either collapse or rebirth. Countless tears have brought forth the shadows of nightmares, the quiet flow of time yearns for a new future, and a thousand sorrows have been shed amidst cruel blood and tears, yet unwavering faith will ultimately save souls. The heroes of the Holy Kingdom, who have steadfastly upheld their will, have finally written a new chapter in the epic saga of the Holy Kingdom and the Demon Realm.

As peace and prosperity dawned, the end of one story coincided with the beginning of another. The strange changes in the Holy Capital and the decline of the Holy Ritual Church all pointed to a long-lurking evil spirit deep within the Holy Kingdom…

Overall Personal Rating: SSS

[Rewards Settlement: Rank Increase (Dekan Tier 5 → Tier 6), Delois's Treasure (Tier 6 Legendary Material)]

Dekan, who had been expecting another epic card, was startled when he saw the red, hazy light appear before him after the last paragraph of text floated up.

"You scared me! I knew it couldn't possibly be a legend."

Dekan quickly realized what was happening.

"You're dreaming. If the Shadow World could really produce Red Legends, then the world wouldn't be unable to confirm the existence of Red Legends."

The master craftsman seized every opportunity to dampen Dekan's spirits.

"However, it is said that if you achieve a high contribution and evaluation in the eighth or ninth tier Shadow World, you may indeed get Crimson Light Epic Cards or Legendary Materials."

For example, the ninth-tier Crimson Light Epic [Divination of Fate] by Sheen and the ninth-tier legendary material [Space Star Stone] by former Pope Agamemnon are both products of the ninth-tier Shadow World.

The master craftsman's focused attention clearly showed that he also cared a great deal about this legendary-grade material.

With Dekan and her card-making skills combined, even if it were made into a card, there's a high probability that a Crimson Light Epic could be created!

"Drois's treasure, could it be..."

Dekan murmured to himself, brushed aside the red halo before his eyes, and carefully took the floating material into his hands.

After seeing the true nature of this legendary material, Dekan's expression seemed both surprised and completely unsurprised.

Delois's Treasure

[Claudia's letter to Delois.]

[After being treated with a special paint by Deloitte, it has become a material that will never decay.]

This letter is exactly the same as the one Dekan held in his hand when he left the Shadow World.

"Why is this letter paper a legendary material...?"

Dekan could understand what Delois considered a treasure, but he wondered why this piece of paper possessed such a high grade of magical material.

However, upon closer inspection, Dekan discovered—

This letter is not the same as the one Dekan had when he first received it in the film world.

Instead, Delois carried it through many years before it became the one in his hand.

The letter was engraved with magical formulas that even Dekan couldn't understand for a moment!

But it seems to be an unfinished product, not even a half-finished magic scroll.

The master had now taken over Dekan's right eye and was observing the magical formula on it.

Her attention seemed completely absorbed by Deloitte's masterpiece, and Dekan's golden right eye remained unblinking for a long time.

"As expected of my brother..."

The master murmured as if waking from a drunken stupor.

"Ok?"

Dekan swiftly grasped the problem in his master's words.

"!"

"Hmph, but it seems that even Delois couldn't complete this magic for some reason. If it could be perfected into a magic scroll, it could be used as the core material for making spell cards."

"Although it is complex, many of the principles behind it are the same as those you have made before, and we can figure them out."

The master suddenly realized that he had subconsciously said something strange, and changed the subject without any sense of incongruity.

During her six months in the film world, she always watched the past interactions between the siblings from Dekan's perspective.

Occasionally, I might even unconsciously mistake it for my own experience.

This process also seemed to be filling in the gaps in her memories.

"Wait, could you call me 'brother' again, like Talotmaty did in the Shadow World?"

Dekan clearly didn't intend for his master to play dumb; he'd just treat it as today's daily task.

Provoking the Master (1/1)

however.

After a moment of silence.

The master conveyed a soft thought:

"...Let's talk about it after I regain my memories."

This time it was Dekan's turn to be stunned.

Then he clutched his head and shouted:

"Oh no! It's a miracle! Mehmet! When did my unruly master become so gentle? I thought you were going to give me a good scolding!"

The master's blood pressure immediately spiked.

Dekan's scumbag behavior is clearly quite different from Deloitte's.

In the past six months, they have learned about Deloitte's past behavior and found that Deloitte is significantly colder and more profound than Dekan.

Of course, Master didn't have much right to criticize Dekan either, and she was much more lively than Talomatti in the Shadow World.

"You...! I really can't treat a piece of trash like you as a brother. Seeing your attitude towards Talomatti in the Shadow World, I thought you would be a good brother. As expected, you're the kind of guy who would abandon his sister for over ten years."

The master angrily transmitted his thoughts.

"Actually, acknowledging that I am your older brother has one huge benefit for you, which you may not have realized yet."

Dekan spoke very rationally and slowly.