"You must be a close relative to Prince Xar," Erwin said with a faint smile.

"Oh? How did you know that?" Duba asked with a surprised expression.

"You bear a strong resemblance to Prince Xar," Erwin explained.

"You have a very keen eye, Mr. Erwin. On top of that, you are surrounded by beautiful and intelligent women. What a truly envious life you lead," Duba said.

The fact that the two women had immediately figured out who he was just from hearing his surname was sufficient testament to their intelligence.

"My name is Duba Xar," Duba said. "Prince Xar is my father."

Erwin nodded in response and offered no reply.

"He was just telling Onean that she was the most beautiful woman in Finklan and asking her who she was so jealous of," Theresa said as she turned to Erwin with an amused expression.

With an outsider present, Erwin had to keep up appearances, so he couldn't act too submissively to Onean. Thus, he said, "I may be surrounded by many women, but that doesn't mean I do not have genuine love for all of them."

Onean naturally wasn't going to openly rebuke Erwin in public, so she put on a half-smile as she replied, "You may hold genuine love for all of us, but that doesn't change the fact that your love is divided and not fully dedicated to either one of us."

It was clear that Onean had retained her clarity of mind and wasn't going to fall for Erwin's sweet talk.

Right at this moment, Lana sent her opponent flying off the competition platform with a sweep of her sleeve.

Only after seeing this did all of the dukedom rulers realize that the prize that they were all pursuing was not going to be an easy one to subdue, even if they could get their hands on her. At the same time, they couldn't help but wonder if this was still the same vulnerable woman who had been trapped in that water prison just a few days ago.

After that, she rose up into the air before descending by Erwin's side.

"You may not be willing to only receive a fraction of his love, but I'm willing to accept whatever love he can spare," Lana said as she turned to Onean with a smile. As it turned out, even while she was facing her opponent on the competition platform, her attention had been focused entirely on Erwin, so she had heard the entirety of their conversation just now.

Lana then snuggled herself up against Erwin's chest as she aimed a provocative gaze at Onean, paying no heed to all of the nearby onlookers.

"Maybe he likes it when you willingly degrade yourself like this," Onean scoffed with a disdainful expression.

"I had to part seas and clouds to come and find you. After going through everything I did to finally reach your side, I'm not going to let my hubris get in the way of loving you with all my heart," Lana said with a faint smile as she looked up at Erwin.

Erwin was rooted to the spot upon hearing this. Whenever he heard Lana speak about her feelings for him, he couldn't help but be struck by a sense of sorrow.

Onean burst into laughter upon hearing this. "I've never been very fond of you, but what you've said just now is a perfect reflection of your personality. You dare to love with all your heart, and you dare to hate with all your might. Perhaps I admire you a little for that."

When it came to men, Onean was able to maintain a very commendable level of objectivity and mental clarity. In contrast, Lana was completely swept up by her romantic feelings, rendering her completely irrational and emotionally driven.

Despite the fact that they were complete polar opposites in this regard, there was a sense of mutual admiration between the two.

Right at this moment, Aglea also arrived to join in on the fun, and she said, "It's about time that you two settled your differences once and for all. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to battle to your hearts' content."

In response to her words, Onean and Lana immediately began to glower at one another with figurative sparks flying between their eyes.

"If it weren't for the shady circumstances behind the Pillow Sword Tournament, you two would've already had a chance to face off against each other," Erwin sighed as he shook his head with a forlorn expression.

"Alright, let's go have some drinks. There aren't any more matches scheduled for today." Erwin was terrified that the two women would begin fighting on the spot, so he grabbed onto their hands and began dragging them out of the imperial palace.

Aglea and Theresa had nothing better to do, so they followed along as well.

Under the light of the setting sun, the group of young people made their way out of the imperial palace while the nearby dukedom rulers looked on with envy in their eyes. In particular, Duba was feeling quite left out, and he decided there and then that he was going to make an effort to try and befriend Erwin in the future.

...

Turan was already waiting outside the imperial palace, and he was immediately greeted by the sight of Erwin accompanied by a pair of gorgeous women.

He had never seen the red-haired woman before, but she wasn't inferior to Onean in the slightest in her physical appearance, and he couldn't help but be mightily impressed by Erwin's ability to draw in beautiful women.

"By the way, what was that Pillow Sword Tournament that you were talking about earlier?" Lana asked as she turned to Erwin.

"Looks like you really have forgotten everything," Erwin said with a depressed expression, then took a subtle glance at Aglea behind him before asking in a quiet voice, "When is she going to give your memories back to you?"

Despite the effort that Erwin had made to keep his voice down, Aglea was able to overhear what he said, and she scoffed in a "Ha! What do you think memories are? Lollies? You can't just take and return memories as you please."

Erwin didn't dare to reply. He was extremely wary of this unfathomably powerful swordswoman, to the point that he was reluctant to even look her in the eye. However, at the same time, those gray eyes under that mask did seem rather familiar to him for some reason.

It was an understatement to say that Lana and Onean didn't see eye to eye with one another, and under normal circumstances, they would've been tugging on Erwin like a rag doll, but they didn't dare to fool around as Aglea was following along behind them. Even though they already stood near the pinnacle of the younger generation of magicians and martial artists, they were completely powerless to do anything to the monster behind them. Even if Theresa were to join them to take on Aglea in a four-on-one battle, their chances of victory still appeared to be slim to none.

After that, the group returned to the hotel that Erwin was staying at in a horse-drawn carriage.

From a distance, Faya could already see that Erwin had returned with yet another striking beauty, but she was already accustomed to this. In fact, she was a little glad to see this as Onean and Theresa were the only ones who were going to be bothered by this. After all, with her ordinary looks, she was never able to compete with the two of them anyway.

As for Yuho, he was also accustomed to Erwin's promiscuity, and he could only give Faya a comforting look to try and console her.

In the instant that Erwin raised his foot to enter the hotel, he immediately detected a burst of fierce killing intent locking onto him.

"Look out!" Lana exclaimed as she swept a sleeve through the air, unleashing a plume of crimson flames.

The dagger that was flying directly toward Erwin was enveloped in the scorching fire and was almost instantly turned red-hot from the extreme temperature. If it weren't for Lana's quick reactions, the dagger would've already sliced Erwin's neck open.

Erwin's brows furrowed slightly as he examined the dagger.

He had seen this dagger before as it once belonged to Renjay. With that in mind, he had a rough idea of who his assailant was.

All of a sudden, a thin young woman emerged from behind a certain pillar in the hall of the hotel, and she declared, "My name is Yunan, and my master was Renjay. I am here to avenge him."

The ferocious killing intent in the young woman's eyes seemed to be completely genuine, and Erwin was rather perplexed to see this. Could it be that Renjay didn't actually explain the situation to her before he passed away?

"What sins have you committed in your past life? Why are there women trying to kill you everywhere you go?" Aglea chuckled with an amused expression.

Yunan paid no heed to Aglea's joke, nor did she seem fazed by the fact that she was being confronted by several opponents more powerful than herself as she drew her blades from their scabbards.

It seemed that it didn't matter whether there was only a single person standing before her, or even an entire army separating her from Erwin. Her objective was to take his life, and she was determined to get the job done no matter who stood in her way.

The bindings on her shoulders, elbows, and knees had already been removed, so she could fight at full capacity now.

As soon as he saw the stance that Yunan adopted, he immediately knew that she was using the 13 Godkiller Techniques. Prior to passing Renjay's book detailing the 13 Godkiller Techniques onto Georgina, Erwin had read through it carefully himself, so he was very familiar with its contents.

"Don't help him, I want to see him fight her on his own," Aglea said as she looked at the young assassin with an intrigued expression.

As soon as her voice trailed off, she unleashed two bursts of sword intent with her fingertips, and the sword intent came to a rest right at the throats of Onean and Lana.

Onean and Lana were certainly not ones to submit to the will of others without putting up any resistance, but in the face of a captor as monstrous as Aglea, they knew that resistance would only be futile. However, the two of them were confident that Erwin would be able to take down the little girl on his own, so they were content to stand by and watch.

As for Theresa, her wrist had been grabbed onto by Aglea, rendering her completely unable to move. Theresa could feel that the skin on Aglea's hand didn't seem to belong to a human. With that in mind, she turned to Aglea with a stunned expression. At the same time, Aglea was also surprised by Theresa's body, which was entirely formed by elemental matter, and the two of them exchanged an astonishing glance with one another.

Yunan paid no heed to what Aglea was doing as she raised her blades before charging directly toward Erwin.

The two blades in her hands were like a pair of azure dragons that were surging forward with the force of turbulent waves.

This was one of the 13 Godkiller Techniques, Dragon Parting the Seas!