“Who could that senior be?” I wondered. “He talked about Vivi as if it’s not an AI but actually a living being.”

After pondering for a few seconds, there was only one thing I figured out. “This mark holds far greater secrets than I thought,” I said, touching my forehead. As for the rest of the things, I shrugged my shoulders and put them aside.

I pushed myself into a sitting position and murmured as I looked around, “Where am I this time?”

I was inside a huge empty hall with numerous stone statues of beasts placed parallel on both sides of the walls. In front of me were inclined stairs leading into darkness, while behind me was a transparent sealed gate covered with numerous magic circles.

“Why haven’t I returned to the forest?” I thought inwardly. “And this place looks oddly familiar. Where have I seen it before? Oh, right.”

I flicked my finger as my memory refreshed. “This is the throne room of Gumiho I saw in Vyaghra’s memories.”

I quickly got up and moved toward the sealed exit. There were two white flames floating behind the gate, continuously hitting the seal, trying to enter inside.

“What am I supposed to do here? Should I try destroying this seal and let these flames enter?” I thought, clenching my fist but stopped midway.

“I shouldn’t poke something I don’t know about. By the way, if this is really the throne room of Gumiho, then those stairs must be leading to…”

I turned and climbed the stairs as fast as I could before finally reaching the top.

“So you are really here,” I smirked.

The stairs led me to a throne shrouded in darkness, and on that throne, Gumiho was sitting. Her eyes were staring into the void, and she was repeatedly mumbling,

“I must protect everyone…”

“I must protect everyone…”

I waved my hand in front of her eyes, but she didn’t respond.

“Hey, anybody home?” I asked as I reached closer to her face.

In contrast to Vyaghra’s memories, where her skin was flawless, her face here was half-burnt, carrying countless cut marks.

Her eyes moved as she looked at me, giving a confused reaction. “Who are you? How did you come inside?”

I was about to speak, but she cut me off, nagging further, “This must be why Vyaghra always said that I should be harsher with my subjects. Listen, I understand you wanted an audience with me, but this is not the correct way to greet your Queen—sigh—I must be fatigued that I couldn’t even sense you coming in.”

“I didn’t—”

“Oh right, why haven’t you left the kingdom yet? The Pisachas are going to attack soon.”

She didn’t give me a chance to say anything and grabbed my hand as she ran down the stairs.

She took me towards the gate but immediately stopped before the entrance.

“The Pisachas are already here,” she said, staring at the white flames beyond the sealed door.

She clutched her head, her lips shivered, and she began muttering again,

“I must protect everyone…”

I was already confused about this place, and now this situation was giving me further headaches.

I sat on the floor and let out a long sigh. My eyes were moving everywhere, scanning for some clue, and then they widened as they fell below Gumiho’s gown.

In haste, I lifted her gown without thinking, and the sight inside terrified me.

There was a dark energy reaching all the way to her thighs, corroding her legs in the process.

“What are you doing?” Gumiho’s sharp feminine voice filled my ears.

“Ummm, this is…” I chuckled awkwardly as I let go of her gown.

Smack…

—

“From the moment I ascended the throne, I have never seen someone as audacious as you,” she exhaled. “Ruru told me a term for people like you.”

She looked at me with disgust as she asked, “Are you perhaps a pervert?”

“Pe…pe…pervert!!!???” I gasped, rubbing my red cheek imprinted with her fingers.

“I’m not a pervert,” I protested.

“Then who are you? What reason do you have for coming here?”

“I would also like to know that,” I murmured under my breath.

She was about to inquire further but suddenly fell to the floor.

“Hey, you alright?” I asked, moving closer to her.

“Aghhhh,” she began whimpering, clutching her chest.

The dark energy had already reached her chest and was spreading towards her neck.

“Vivi, what is this dark energy?” I asked as I was about to touch it.

“DON’T TOUCH IT!”

The system screen popped up directly in front of my face.

“Woah, got it, got it. Care to tell me what it is?”

“It is called Death Energy. When someone forcefully consumes their lifeforce, the Death Energy eats their soul, reducing them to nothing.”

“So, any way to prevent it?”

“…”

“As usual, not gonna answer the most important question, huh?”

My core was healed. I had also absorbed the cursed Soulforce inside her, so there wasn’t going to be any Soulforce explosion either. I didn’t have any reason to save her; however, my subconscious mind wouldn’t let someone die if it knew that I had a way to save them. Moreover, it wasn’t going to cost me anything.

“Death Energy, burning flames, sealed gate, senior’s words,” I mumbled, trying to put the pieces together.

Thud…

I slapped my forehead, shouting, “How could I forget that!!?”

I jumped to my feet and ran towards the sealed door, punching it as hard as I could. Unexpectedly, it launched me back with the same force.

I rushed back as lightning flickered on my hand. “Lightning Bolt!”

The door sparked with intense lightning, yet it didn’t leave a single mark.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Gumiho muttered, getting up. One of her tails swirled around my neck as she pulled me closer.

“Hey, you need to open that door if you wanna live.”

“Did you just threaten me?” Her tail tightened around my neck as she spoke further. “Are you an assassin trying to kill me by letting those Pisachas in?”

“What the heck are you on about?” I gasped, trying to loosen her grip.

The Death Energy had spread up to her face and was about to reach her head, so I did what I thought was best at that time.

“Voice of Tranquility—activated.”

I grabbed both of her fluffy ears with my hands and spoke softly, “Ume, look carefully, those aren’t Pisachas.”

A shiver ran through her body, her tail slowly unfurled, and her eyes glistened with tears as she looked toward the flames beyond the door.

She quickly waved her hand, shattering the seal like a mirror.

The flames bolted inside, and just before the Death Energy was about to engulf Ume, the flames wrapped themselves around her body.

The Death Energy began to disappear, and the flames took the shape of two figures hugging Ume from both sides.

One of the figures smiled at me softly and waved its finger, marking a strange symbol on my palm.

I didn’t know what that symbol meant, nor did I try to figure it out, as my mind was more focused on the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed.

Those figures embracing Ume were none other than Hana and Aruma, who were still protecting their daughter even after death.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep