"Your Majesty, when will we launch an attack on Dralmor City?" a general in golden armor asked while cupping his hands together.

His gaze was fixed on the man standing proudly with his arms crossed behind his back.

That man was Gabriel Solayne, the Third King of the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria.

When he heard his subordinate's question, he paused for a moment before answering, "Later in the afternoon. Prepare everything from now on. I don't want anything missing. Understood?"

The general, Lucas, bowed his head and said, "I understand, Your Majesty!"

With that, he took two steps back, turned around, and left him alone.

Gabriel took a deep breath and whispered, "After the Kingdom of Avernia fell, the other kingdoms followed. The Holy Kingdom of Aldoria needs a large territory for us to stand firmly on this continent. There must be no other kingdoms within a thousand-kilometer radius…"

…

"Your Majesty, everything has been prepared," said a man in silver armor.

The man was tall and stocky, with short red hair. He was Runard, the supreme general of the Kingdom of Avernia.

Crystal turned around and looked at him gently. "Thank you, Runard. I apologize for always troubling you."

Runard shook his head and returned her smile.

"It's okay, Sister. I am the general of this kingdom. It is only right for me to take part in this battle," he replied calmly. "In fact, I wanted to come along from the beginning, but I knew it would be selfish. Now, the opportunity is here, and I must do my best!"

As the highest general, his position was extremely important. He had three subordinate generals, each of whom had been dispatched to various important points in the Avernia Kingdom.

However, after their defeat by the army led by Gabriel, those three generals had been killed.

Therefore, only he was left to lead this final battle.

Crystal's expression showed sadness and distress. Runard was her younger brother, and she loved him deeply.

Because of his strength and talent, her late husband had appointed him as the highest general of the kingdom.

If it weren't for his help all this time, Crystal wasn't even sure she could defend the kingdom.

But she knew now was not the time to drown in emotions. The safety of the capital's people was at stake, and they had to mobilize all their strength to face the army of the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria.

"Alright, you may leave now," she ordered.

Runard gave a small nod and turned to leave. Shortly after, two people entered her study.

They were Luna and Merlin.

When Crystal saw them, she forced a smile.

"You two came at the right time. Luna, are you ready?"

Luna nodded firmly. "Yes, Ancestor, I'm ready!"

"Good. But first, I want to warn you." Crystal looked at them seriously. "If our troops are defeated, leave immediately. I've prepared a place for you and my two sons to hide. There are also many treasures stored there that you can use to survive."

She paused for a moment, turned to Merlin, and pleaded, "Can you look after my two sons? Although they are older than you, that's only on the surface. Your demeanor is far above that of a boy your age. I'm sure they'll depend on you a lot. So please help them grow strong enough to survive without me. This is my last request."

For the sake of her children, she had already prepared precautionary measures to keep them safe and alive.

She had even told the two about it last night and asked them to leave this morning.

Yet Merlin shook his head. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I cannot accept your request."

Not only Crystal, but even Luna beside him was surprised.

Before they could question him, Merlin looked at Luna gently, then turned to Crystal with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, in the upcoming battle, please allow me to participate."

Crystal and Luna gasped at his words. Luna grabbed his left arm and scolded, "Merlin, what are you saying? Are you crazy?"

During their more than three weeks together in this world, she had believed she understood him well.

But she was wrong. Merlin was not the calculating boy she thought he was—he was actually crazy!

Merlin ignored her. His gaze stayed locked on Crystal.

"What about my request, Your Majesty? Can you grant it?"

Crystal was silent for a few minutes. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Sorry, I can't allow it," she refused firmly. "I won't let you participate in the war. You must go with Luna to where my children are hiding."

As if he had already expected her rejection, Merlin remained calm and said, "What if I told you that my participation in the battle could increase your chances of winning by 90%?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Crystal and Luna froze in disbelief.

"What did you say? A 90% increased chance of victory?" Crystal exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah," Merlin affirmed. "The reason the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria's army can win the war is because of the king, Gabriel Solayne. If we get rid of him, our chance of victory increases by 90%."

Crystal caught his meaning. Her face turned grim as she asked, "So, you'll be the one facing Gabriel, right?"

"Bingo. You're right, Your Majesty." Merlin smiled slightly. "Leave him to me. I have ways to deal with him."

Crystal fell into deep thought once again.

Could she trust his words? Honestly, she didn't believe it at all.

Although Merlin showed knowledge and power far beyond a child his age, it was still impossible for him to defeat Gabriel Solayne, who had reached the First Spirit Core level.

Not even the Seven Heavenly Generals—an artifact belonging to the Tharot family—could defeat Gabriel Solayne, let alone a child at the Eighth Spirit Core level.

However, as the saying goes, "In every case, there is an opportunity."

It was possible that Merlin was telling the truth.

Just as she grew more and more uncertain about what to decide, Luna suddenly spoke up.

"Ancestor, please allow Merlin! Please!"

Crystal and Merlin were taken aback. Merlin, especially—he had expected Luna to oppose him completely.

After all, that was the nature of this stubborn girl. Yet unexpectedly, she agreed, completely opposite of what he had imagined.

"Why are you supporting this?" Crystal asked suspiciously. "He's your fiancé, so you should be the one most against it."

Luna hesitated for a moment but quickly regained her resolve. She looked gently at Merlin beside her and replied, "It's because I trust Merlin. If he's confident and says he has a way, then he must have one."

Her voice softened, and her face flushed slightly in embarrassment.

Crystal didn't know how to respond. She had long felt that the relationship between the two children in front of her was strange.

They claimed to be engaged, yet they didn't look like it at all.

Sometimes, she even wondered if they were just pretending to be engaged.

However, since she didn't want to meddle, she never asked further.

Letting out a long sigh, she smiled helplessly and said, "Since even you support Merlin's decision, I have no right to reject it. And Merlin…"

Her gaze locked onto his, filled with warning and seriousness.

"I don't expect you to actually be able to defeat Gabriel Solayne. If you fall into an unfavorable situation, use this to escape."

She snapped her fingers, and a box-shaped white stone appeared. The stone was quite small—only half a hand's grip.

"This is one of my artifacts. It can forcibly teleport you. I've already set the coordinates to the place where my two sons are hiding," she explained. "At first, I wanted to give it to Runard, but I changed my mind. Take it."

Luna stared at the stone, unable to hide her surprise.

"That stone…" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Merlin took it and turned to her curiously.

"Do you know it?"

"Yes. It's one of the artifacts left behind after the Kingdom of Avernia fell in our era, Merlin. I remember it being in the treasure room, but I never knew its function."

"Oh?" Merlin's eyebrows rose slightly.

He hadn't expected Crystal to be so generous as to hand over a precious artifact like this to him.

His caution toward her slowly faded. At the very least, her gesture showed she genuinely meant well.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll keep it carefully," he said as he slipped it into his pocket.

"Don't just keep it—use it if you're in danger." Crystal smiled wryly.

Merlin simply chuckled. They then continued discussing the war and the activation of the Seven Celestial Generals.

Once they finished, Crystal led Luna to the treasure room, leaving Merlin alone.

"Alright, system, can the mission be launched now?" he asked playfully.

"[Ding! Special mission launched! Plunge into battle and defeat Gabriel Solayne! Bring victory to the Kingdom of Avernia! Rewards: 100,000 system points, 2x Pandora Boxes, and 1x S-Level Healing Potion!]"

Seeing that, Merlin's heart skipped a beat. It had been a long time since he had seen an S-level healing potion—the last time was when he cured the curse on himself two years ago.

And now it appeared again, filling him with joy.

His gaze then shifted to the other two rewards: 100,000 system points and 2x Pandora Boxes.

The number of system points offered by this mission was extremely high—the highest he had ever received.

Lastly, the 2x Pandora Boxes remained a complete mystery. The system once said that the contents of a Pandora Box were random.

He could get skills, system points, or other items. However, one thing was certain: the reward would never be trash.

"Tsk! Alright, now it's time to prepare a way to defeat Gabriel Solayne…"

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