Kaden and Aurora stepped into the silver portal, their bodies sensing with jarring clarity the sudden shift in the air.

In one instant, they were in the damp alley with only the flicker of shadows for company, and in the next, they found themselves high in the sky, inside an enclosed space shrouded completely in darkness as thick as oil.

Immediately, Kaden took Aurora into his arms, using his Perception and Constitution Stat to lower their presence exponentially. Next, his eyes shifted, becoming sword-shaped, and he used his Intent to Kill and erase their presence completely.

At that moment, they might as well have been air itself.

To that, he added his abnormal strength, condensing the air beneath his feet and making it solid enough for him to stand as if upon the ground.

Aurora wrapped her arms around his neck for support, her body feeling steadier with his warmth, her eyes wandering around and below them, taking in the loathsome sight that was staining her beautiful, unsullied gaze.

The space they found themselves in was dark, enclosed, with no light penetrating anywhere. A faint red fog drifted through the air, thick with the scent of iron, making Aurora wrinkle her face in disgust.

But even this fog couldn't obscure the light, the faint, eerie glow of the thirty-three tattoos inscribed atop the skulls of all the doundous gathered here.

It was deadly silent.

Yet never had they witnessed a silence so loud… a silence so heavy with unspoken misery and agony.

Kaden and Aurora felt their hearts grow frigid at the sight before them. The dark space stretched as vast as a medium-sized city, and yet… every inch of it was filled to the brim with doundous.

And with their special eyes, they could see everything, clearly and painfully, as if it were broad daylight.

They saw the hollow sockets still bleeding crimson tears, the sewn mouths trembling violently, the ears cut clean off. But that wasn't all. For this time, these doundous were completely naked.

They saw how every body was mismatched, looking like limbs severed and sewn back together carelessly, torsos uneven, skin stitched with rough, inhuman precision. Their forms resembled broken dolls, repaired again and again without love or mercy.

The more Kaden saw, the deader his eyes became, stripped of even the faintest trace of emotion.

In his arms, Aurora's gaze mirrored his own. Her usual playful, relaxed expression had shattered completely, replaced by something cold and wordless…the silent horror of a soul forced to witness cruelty beyond comprehension.

It wasn't the sight itself that disturbed them so much, but…

"How did they find so many humans?" Kaden asked softly, his voice heard only by Aurora, and then instantly smothered by his intent.

He couldn't help but wonder. The number of people trapped in that place had to be in the millions…millions of men, women, the old, and even bloody children.

Hell, Kaden even saw a young boy, no older than six, smaller and shorter than Eimi. And yet he stood there, transformed into a grotesque sculpture, worthy of a monument to broadcast the perversity of mankind.

And that wasn't all. He saw a young girl, perhaps ten, her belly swollen like that of a pregnant woman, her nipples stretched and pierced mercilessly, blood dripping down and pooling beneath her in a crimson patch.

And yet… they didn't move. They didn't cry.

They stayed silent.

But that silence could have choked the world.

Kaden clenched his jaw tightly, veins slithering across his forehead like restless worms.

"I don't know," Aurora whispered, her voice dry and brittle like old cotton. "I don't know, Fraud."

It seemed she, too, was finally beginning to understand the magnitude of what they were witnessing. And that realization pressed heavily against her chest, crushing her heart with every passing second.

All Aurora could see was the path. She could see where she needed to go, what she needed to do, but as for what she would find along that path…

…that was an entirely different matter.

Kaden sighed at her febrile voice, unconsciously tightening his hold around her, pulling her closer against his chest in silent comfort. Aurora didn't resist.

And at that moment, Kaden's perception caught something. Seconds later, Aurora felt it too. Their heads snapped toward one direction, to the far edge of the dark space below them, to the rightmost corner of that loathsome realm.

There, they noticed a silver door they hadn't seen until now.

Moments later, a figure emerged, wearing a silver robe like that of a great mage, a silver mask concealing his entire face, even his eyes and ears. Judging by the build, it was a man. Etched on his chest was the symbol of an inverted silver sword — a rapier, to be precise — encircled by pale white stars.

For the brief instant the door opened to let him through, Kaden's perception reached inside and what he felt there made his blood freeze.

There were countless beings but also a storm of cries, voices of pain and anguish, of those begging for release, for death, for the end of their endless torment.

The sound was like a chorus of the damned, so wretched and piercing it could make even a stone tremble and weep.

"They're being tortured behind that door," Kaden muttered, then clenched his jaw. "Let's go—!"

"We need to go back."

Aurora's words cut through his like a blade, brisk and sharp. Her eyes were fixed on the silver-robed man below.

Kaden froze. Slowly, he lowered his head and looked down at her, his gaze heavy with disbelief and restrained tension.

"What?" he grunted.

"I had my doubts when I saw the silver mana you mimicked to come here," she said, her voice sharp and cold like an icicle. "But now I'm sure."

She paused, her mouth opening and closing several times before the words finally came out.

"These are people of Lord Silver, from Silver City," Aurora muttered, her tone lower, more measured now. "I know their symbol."

"So what?" Kaden shot back, "What does it matter if they're from there?"

"It matters," Aurora scowled, "because now we need to tread more carefully. Lord Silver is strong. Exceptionally strong. And the fact that he, or even one of his men, is behind this… this scene… is horrific news."

"I understand now," she continued, her lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes swept across the endless crowd of doundous. "I've heard rumors that people around the territory of Silver City have been dying repeatedly, during dungeon conquests, or at the hands of restless beast hordes."

She sighed. The truth lay bare before her now, and it was one she wished she hadn't uncovered.

Whoever said ignorance is bliss might have been right. Because now that Aurora had found the truth, she had no choice but to bear its weight on her weak shoulders.

But Kaden still didn't understand.

"Why should we go back?" he asked.

Aurora snapped, her patience breaking.

"To plan more thoroughly, of course, idiot! We need more information, and that means I need to use my power. Maybe you still don't get it, but I can't use it here. So we go back."

Kaden listened to her words in silence, then lowered his gaze toward the silver-masked man below, who seemed to be methodically counting the number of doundous.

He focused on the energy the man emitted. A mere Grandmaster.

And if Kaden wasn't mistaken, the same level of power pulsed faintly from behind the silver door as well.

They were not threats.

Not in front of him.

"My lady," Kaden intoned, and Aurora instantly sensed something bad in the tone of his voice. "What would happen if I disobey your orders?" he asked calmly.

Aurora bit her lips. "You will bring us more problems," she said flatly. "You do not know what lies within this space we've found ourselves in. If we act, we might start an event we are not yet ready to conclude."

She paused, then tightened her arms around his neck, her voice lowering.

"The Lord of Silver is behind the First Prince," she continued. "And not only him, the Lord of Morningstar too. Only Lady Green remains neutral for now."

"That means poking the Lord of Silver is the same as touching the Lord of Morningstar, and also alerting the First Prince that we know about his dealings."

She glared at him with sharp, unyielding intensity. "And once he realizes we know something we shouldn't, I have no doubt he will come himself to kill us. And let me tell you, Fraud…"

Her eyes narrowed, the light in them turning harrowingly serious.

"He will kill us, Fraud. He's stronger than anything I've ever witnessed. Stronger even than my prince."

She sighed, the tension in her breath heavy. "We need to go back and plan. I'll complete the path and find a way," she said finally, her voice softer but desperate, trying to convince him.

But all of her words only fed the question pounding inside Kaden's mind, a question that refused to leave, demanding an answer.

"Why?" Kaden asked, his voice low, his crimson gaze blazing like that of a wrathful god as he looked below. "Why are you doing so much for the Prince?"

Aurora pressed her lips tightly, saying nothing.

"I am not blind, my lady, to not notice how the use of your power weakens you. No, it goes even beyond that."

He spared her a dark glance, their eyes locking into one another, unyielding.

"It's as if every time you use your power to see the path, you're paying for it with your life."

He clenched his jaw tight.

"So why? Please, don't tell me it's love."

"Then I have to disappoint you," Aurora scowled, her eyes cold. "Because it's love."

She didn't even know why she was entertaining this conversation. He was her knight, her orders were meant to be followed without question. And yet here she was, trying to explain, trying to convince him instead of command him.

Since when did she care about this man so much?

"You will die for love?" Kaden asked, his tone low, incredulous.

"Please, Fraud," Aurora chuckled humorlessly, "saying it like that makes it sound like something novel. People die for love every day."

"No," Kaden shook his head slowly, his crimson eyes narrowing. "What I meant to ask is… is he worthy of your love?"

Aurora fell silent, her tongue frozen, her mind suddenly blank.

"Is he worthy of you snuffing out your life for him to become Emperor?" Kaden pressed, "What do you even love about the Prince?"

"He's arrogant, he's greedy for power and I'm bloody sure he knows the cost of your ability. He knows it, and yet he lets you use it for his sake."

Kaden's teeth ground together so hard it sounded like stone cracking.

"He's using you to become Emperor, my lady!" he growled, his voice laced with restrained fury. "Can't you see it? Or does love make you blind?"

Aurora smiled weakly at his words, still held in his warmth, feeling the anger and concern beneath them, and not knowing whether to laugh or be angry at her knight for lecturing her about her love life.

Yet she still answered, because, in truth, she needed to. She needed it for her heart to keep walking the path it had chosen.

She needed to say it… so that she might believe it even more.

They said words have the power to create, didn't they?

Please… let that be true.

"My prince loves me," she said, smiling faintly, her heart tightening around the words. "But his countless duties keep him away from me."

"As for why I love him? Precisely because of who he is."

"He is arrogant, greedy, manipulative, and selfish. And yet… he was gentle. He cared. He used to give me chocolate bars every time I cried as a child after losing my parents," she whispered softly.

"He is human, Fraud. He is flawed in the worst and best ways possible."

"Those chocolates kept me going. His face kept me going. His presence kept me going. So I vowed to make him smile in the same way he did for me."

She looked deep into Kaden's red eyes.

"I vowed to use my cursed power… and make him an emperor."

"So what if I die? I would have died back then if not for him. So it's fine, Fraud…"

She smiled, but what Kaden saw wasn't peace. It was pain. Pain and unbearable loneliness.

"It's fine, because I will die for the one who gave me purpose. I will be his guiding star, Fraud."

The more she said those words, the deeper they sank into her mind, until believing them became easier than listening to her heart's scream.

And at that moment, looking at Aurora, Kaden finally understood the dreadfulness of his quest, and his heart went cold at the realization.

After all…

How can you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?

—End of Chapter 313—

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