In the darkness, he felt lost and afraid, his heart gripped by overwhelming sorrow. The next moment, however, he felt consciousness slowly return to him.

Edward slowly opened his weary eyes. Initially, he was confused, but soon he was astonished.

"I'm alive?!"

The last thing he remembered was him and Lisa dying at the hands of Hemingway. But now that he opened his eyes and looked around him, his body trembled in shock and disbelief.

He slowly sat up and scanned his surroundings.

Blood-filled cobblestoned streets. Corrupted beasts' corpses. Dilapidated buildings.

"This" Edward didn't know what to think. "I'm still in Omai? I'm alive? But how?"

He was so shocked that he didn't even realize that another person was lying down just beside him.

It was Lisa.

The next moment, she groaned in pain and slowly opened her eyes. Just like Edward, she too was initially confused, but then she was filled with incredulity.

But she didn't have much time to reel in from her shock when Edward tightly hugged her.

"Lisa! You're alive!" Tears streamed down his eyes as he warmly hugged her. "Thank goodness!"

"W-What happened?" Lisa asked in a daze. "How are we still alive? I, uh I was sure I died. We both did!"

Recalling the feeling of death, her body involuntarily shuddered. The pain, the emotions, everything felt so real at the time.

She couldn't help but begin to question herself, wondering if her mind was playing games with her.

Edward too was clueless.

Suddenly, a deep voice originated from behind them, taking them by surprise.

"It was brother's illusion."

The couple turned around in alarm, and the sight that greeted them caused them to be wide-eyed.

"Little Val!"

Behind the couple, sat a wounded, gray dragon. The young dragon's yellow eyes flashed with fatigue and sorrow.

Dozens of sharp blades were embedded into his body, causing grievous injuries. Blood gushed out of them and formed a puddle underneath.

Despite all the wounds covering his body, Valerian didn't wince. He was expressionless, except for his eyes which seemed to be flashing with grief.

The couple hurriedly got to their feet and rushed toward him. Without uttering a word, they started to gently take out all the blades that had pierced his scales.

Only after removing the last of the blades did Edward look at him and ask in concern, "Val, what happened to you? What happened to us? How are we still alive?"

Valerian lowered his head and softly said, "Before those Magi were about to kill us, brother cast a large-scale illusion that covered the entirety of Omai."

"Large scale illusion?!" Lisa was stunned.

"Is that even possible? No Rank 1 Magus can do that" Edward began, but was interrupted by Valerian.

His eyes gleamed with immense pride as he muttered, "My brother is now a Mana Liquefaction Magus."

The couple were wide-eyed and speechless. It took a long time for them to digest this unbelievable piece of information.

Edward spoke excitedly, "So he finally became a Rank 2 Magus?!"

Valerian nodded.

Lisa thought of something and asked incredulously, "Even still! An illusion at such a large scale cannot be achieved by a Rank 2 Magus! It is simply unheard of!"

"You're right." Valerian nodded, his tone laced with melancholy. "It is impossible for a Rank 2 Magus to pull this off."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Brother, he he achieved this at great cost."

When Adam had cast the large-scale illusion, everyone inside Omai had fallen victim to it except for Valerian. When the young dragon saw the field of white lotuses, he immediately realized that Adam must've paid a great price for it.He recalled the time when Adam had borrowed the power of the lotus and cast Dingy Illusion to trick the herd of Rock Bisons deep in the Murky Mountains.

Just a simple usage had left him incapacitated and in excruciating pain for a week.

Valerian couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen to Adam now that he had used the lotus to cast such a wide- scale illusion.

Realizing as to why Adam was forced to use the lotus, the young dragon couldn't help but feel extremely pained.

Brother sacrificed so much to save me to save his friends

He hated himself for being so helpless. He was a mighty dragon, yet he felt so powerless.

Suddenly, Lisa reached out her hand and gently caressed the young dragon's scaly face. "Don't fall into despair, Val. You, me, and Eddie, we did the best we could given our circumstances."

She paused for a moment before adding with a wry smile, "It's just our enemies were far more powerful than us."

Valerian remained silent. In the end, he nodded his head ever so slightly.

Edward suddenly thought of something and chimed in, "We must remove all evidence in this town that would point to the existence of a dragon."

Valerian had fought a battle here with two Rank 2 Magi. Naturally, he had lost a lot of blood and even his dragon scales during the battle.

Edward and Lisa realized how important Valerian's identity was. If word got out, there would be endless trouble awaiting them.

Hearing his suggestion, Lisa nodded. She then glanced at Valerian, who had now transformed back into a cat, and asked, "Where's Adam right now?"

She realized that they were somewhere far away from where they had fought. She guessed that Valerian must've brought them and their familiars here to safety.

The young dragon agilely climbed Lisa's shoulder. Then, he glanced in the direction of the town's square and gestured, "There."

"Is he fighting Oswald and Professor Hemingway?" Edward asked nervously.

Valerian nodded.

Edward knew that neither of them could get involved in a battle between mighty Rank 2 Magi. Just a simple spell from these powerful existences could kill them.

Hence, with great reluctance, he stated, "Let's wait for their battle to get over or for them to move somewhere else. Then, we can clean up the battlefield and erase anything related to Val."

Both Valerian and Lisa nodded.

Then, they simultaneously glanced in the direction of the central square, their eyes flashing with hope and apprehension.

Oswald and Hemingway stood side by side, glancing at the raven-hared youth in the distance in shock and terror.

Shocked because they hadn't really expected him to advance to Rank 2 Magus in the midst of all this carnage. Moreover, Adam's advancement was quite grand and magnificent, in a manner of speaking.

When the two of them had advanced to the Mana Liquefaction Rank in the past, they hadn't elicited such an intense reaction from the mana that permeated this world.

In front of this youth, their advancements to Rank 2 paled in comparison.

On the other hand, they were filled with terror upon seeing this youth after having experienced the large-scale illusion he had just weaved.

If possible, they wanted to avoid this battle with this youth. However, they knew that was simply wishful thinking.

They then exchanged determined glances and nodded.

Oswald's countenance twisted in anger and ruthlessness as he stepped forward and roared, "Adam Constantine, hand over that artifact as well as your dragon, and I promise to give you a quick death"

But the next moment, the words got stuck in his throat when the youth glanced at him.

When the two made eye contact, Oswald froze.

As he gazed into the black, abyss-like eyes that had a white flower pattern ingrained in them, he felt as if his mind went blank.

Adam's eyes narrowed when he laid eyes on this man who had almost killed Valerian. He raised his arm and pointed his finger at Oswald.

His lips parted and he coldly muttered, his tone laced with immense killing intent.

"Your soul is mine."