Chapter 265: An Unexpected Visitor

“Alana, is there really no other way?”

Marcus couldn’t quite hide the edge of frustration in his voice. The thought of his Saint-tier Three-Star Sacred Lotus ending up as nothing more than a decorative trophy sat poorly with him, especially after everything he had gone through to obtain it.

“Those damn demons…” he muttered under his breath, and Alana immediately nodded, her expression sharpening with the same resentment.

“Master, even after eight hundred years, Rosewood Valley is still a furnace of hellfire,” she explained, her tone weighed down by regret. “Unless someone has reached at least Level 50, they wouldn’t even survive stepping inside. The entire valley has been reduced to scorched stone. There’s no soil, no water, nothing that could sustain life. That’s why it’s called the Valley of Fire now.”

She let out a quiet sigh, her shoulders dipping slightly. “And the Flowing Jade Ravine, the only place in all of Dreamland where the Starlight Frost-Bloom grows, was located right at the heart of it. It disappeared along with the Flower Tribe. There’s no realistic chance of finding one there anymore. The only possibilities left are that one might have somehow grown elsewhere… or that we wait for my grandfather to return. If anyone knows a hidden method or a secret location, it would be him.”

Alana slowly lifted her gaze to Marcus, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Master… I’m so sorry.”

Her voice faltered at the end, and a tear finally slipped free, tracing a delicate line down her cheek. The sight caught Marcus off guard. For a moment, he forgot entirely about the lotus, about the game, about everything except the fact that she looked genuinely devastated.

“Hey… what’s all this?” he said more gently, stepping forward and pulling her into his arms without hesitation.

“I’m useless, Master,” she said between soft sobs, her voice muffled against his chest. “I’m supposed to be a Grandmaster Alchemist, but I can’t even help you restore your most precious treasure. I’ve failed you.”

Marcus let out a quiet breath, something warm and protective settling in his chest. “You silly girl,” he said softly, tightening his hold just enough for her to feel it, “how is any of this your fault?”

He rested his chin lightly against her head, letting her calm down against him. “I don’t ever want to see my Alana crying over something like this. It’s just a plant, nothing more. Come on… look at me.”

Gently, he tilted her chin up and wiped away the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “There we go. That’s better. Now give me a smile… yeah, that’s it. Much better. You’re far too beautiful to be making a face like that.”

Once her breathing steadied and the worst of her emotions passed, Marcus decided it was best to steer the conversation elsewhere before she slipped back into guilt.

“Alana,” he said, his tone turning thoughtful, “why did Seraphina even use something like the Chalice of Hellfire on the Flower Tribe? That kind of power sounds incredibly rare. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to save it for a large-scale war?”

The more he thought about it, the less it added up. From everything he had heard, Seraphina wasn’t reckless. She was supposed to be calculating, someone who wouldn’t waste such a devastating resource on what was, strategically speaking, a relatively minor target.

Alana leaned back slightly, her expression settling into something more composed. “I asked my grandfather the same question once,” she said. “He told me it happened not long after the Great War between the Goddess of Dreams and the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord had been sealed away, and without him, the entire clan was left without a true leader.”

She folded her hands in front of her, speaking more steadily now. “The Ghost Race and the Arcane-Beasts saw that as their chance to reclaim lost territory. Even the Dragon Dynasty was preparing to launch a decisive strike. At that point, the Demon Clan was surrounded by enemies and dangerously vulnerable.”

Marcus nodded slowly, beginning to see where this was going.

“So Seraphina used the Chalice as a message,” Alana continued. “She needed to prove that even without their Lord, the Demon Clan still possessed overwhelming power. It wasn’t just about destroying the Flower Tribe, it was about showing the rest of the world what would happen to anyone who pushed too far.”

Her gaze flickered slightly. “And it worked. No one wanted to be the first to face that kind of destruction, so they all hesitated. That hesitation gave the Demon Clan time to stabilize.”

She paused, then added, “Besides, the Chalice takes at least two hours to fully activate. If the Flower Tribe hadn’t been sealed inside the valley by their own formation, Seraphina might never have had the opportunity to use it at all.”

Marcus exhaled quietly, a faint, grim admiration forming in his mind. Cold, ruthless, but undeniably effective. It wasn’t wasteful at all when viewed that way. It was calculated intimidation on a massive scale.

Still, Alana’s expression dimmed again, a trace of sadness returning. “It’s just… unfortunate about the Frost-Blooms,” she said softly.

’Yeah, definitely need to move on,’ Marcus thought, not wanting to drag her back into that spiral.

“What about these, then?” he said, quickly pulling out the remaining items he had salvaged before the lotus had deteriorated completely: six leaves, four roots, three flowers, and three seeds. “Can you make anything out of these?”

Alana’s mood shifted almost instantly the moment she saw them, her eyes lighting up with renewed interest. She took the items carefully, but there was an unmistakable spark of excitement in the way she handled them.

“Master! Every part of a Saint-tier herb is valuable,” she said, her earlier gloom giving way to professional enthusiasm. “Even separated like this, these components are at least Mythic-grade. They’re incredibly rare and extremely useful.”

She began examining them one by one, her focus sharpening, movements precise and practiced. “Since the Three-Star Sacred Lotus is unique to Star Lake, I’ll need some time to analyze their properties in detail. But there’s no doubt I can work with these.”

“Good,” Marcus said with a satisfied nod. “Then they’re all yours. From now on, you’re in charge of everything related to my alchemy.”

Without hesitation, he handed over the rest of his collected herbs as well. Thanks to the Ring of Greed, his inventory space was practically limitless, which had turned him into something of a compulsive gatherer. If it could be picked up, he picked it up.

“Alana, how about we take a break and go for a walk?” he suggested after a moment. He still had time before the situation with the Vixen Clan cooled down, and it suddenly struck him that he had barely experienced the Citadel beyond its practical uses. He had spent most of his time grinding levels or rushing between objectives.

“I’d love to!” Alana replied immediately, her earlier distress completely replaced by enthusiasm. She pulled out a mask and slipped it over her face, a simple but effective disguise for someone of her status.

They spent the next hour wandering through the lively streets of the Citadel. With her prior visits alongside her grandfather, Alana knew the layout far better than Marcus, guiding him effortlessly through the various districts. The level of detail in Dominion continued to impress him at every turn. It wasn’t just functional shops and quest hubs; there were taverns filled with chatter, elegant boutiques displaying finely crafted clothing, jewelry stores glittering with impossible designs, and entire entertainment districts that felt as vivid and immersive as anything in the real world.

By the time they finished gathering supplies, the city no longer felt like just another game location. It felt lived in.

When they returned to Marcus’s mansion, Alana headed straight for her laboratory, already absorbed in studying the lotus components. Marcus, meanwhile, began preparing for his next outing. He needed to collect Five-Leaf Goldgrass and Crystal-Tear Berries if he wanted to produce more Super Health Potions.

Ding-dong…

The sound cut through the room unexpectedly.

Marcus frowned slightly. That wasn’t the soft, artificial chime of his in-game residence. It was sharper and more familiar.

Real.

“Who could that be?” he muttered, glancing toward the door of his apartment as the realization settled in. Lily and his sister, Amber, weren’t supposed to be back for at least another hour, and both of them had their own keys.

He logged out and made his way to the front door. The moment he opened it and saw who was standing on the other side, his heart skipped.

’Oh, boy…’ he thought, a sinking feeling settling in his gut. ’This is going to be a problem.’

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