Kaelyn didn't need to wait for Deklan to answer to know the answer.

It was mostly her fault for being a bad leader.

"Had I been more attentive to others, I could've spotted Zayne's problem and made preparations to help him, but I didn't. Zayne is naturally a good person. He won't do something like this even if you taunted him," She buried her face on her knees, feeling breathless at the thought. "In reality, if you wanted to blame someone, it should be me."

Slowly, Kaelyn grabbed something on the other side and placed it beside Deklan.

It was her unsheathed katana.

Deklan stared at the katana in silent shock before looking at Kaelyn again.

Even though she didn't say a single word, he knew what she was implying by handing her katana over to him. She was telling Deklan to kill her if he wanted to, as what happened is mostly her fault, and she was ready to accept the consequences.

Seeing this, Deklan let out a deep sigh.

"Forget about it," He waved his hand, refusing the offer. "It's not like you're not being attentive because you're self-centered. I don't know your situation, but you were being chased by your enemies. It's hard to be attentive and worry about your tail at the same time."

Kaelyn was caught off guard.

She lifted her head and turned to Deklan, eyes opened wide, "Are you really sure about this…? I'm the one who caused almost half of your people to die. I'm sure you are in a tough spot back in the hamlet, and killing me would at least appease your people."

"It's fine," Deklan shrugged. "I'm planning to leave, anyway."

"Leave…? Can you leave anytime you want like that?"

"I only want to become stronger, and with the inner area handled—there's nothing more for me here to grow stronger. Don't worry about the Ghosts in the Shadowed Town. All of them obeyed me, and won't cause trouble."

Deklan stood up and patted his hands together, dusting them off.

"You're welcome to settle inside the inner area," he continued, looking down at her—with a small smile. "Or, if you prefer, I can also arrange for your group to live near—or even inside the hamlet. Most of the survivors are elderly, so they can't refuse your group. Just let me know what you decide."

Once he said that, Deklan walked away—it's time for his second session.

Kaelyn was absolutely stunned.

She thought that Deklan came to visit her because he was planning to kill her.

And this talk was only a formality before he ended her life.

Contrary to her expectations, Deklan has no intention of killing her; he even offers to help her group.

It caught her off guard.

Snapping out of her trance, Kaelyn stood up, "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Hmm?" Deklan stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Sure. What's up?"

"May I know who you really are?" She asked hopefully.

From the moment she encountered him, she had always wanted to know who he really was—like what his background was. Someone like him, who has incredible power and constitution, must come from an incredible background.

"Deklan Tiernan," Deklan answered. "My full name is Deklan Tiernan."

He continued ahead, disappearing into the darkness.

On the other hand, Kaelyn stared at where he disappeared into for a good minute in stunned silence.

"Deklan Tiernan… Tiernan?" Her eyes snapped open at the realization. "He's Marquis Tiernan's son?!"

Kaelyn wasn't expecting this at all.

From how Deklan looked, having a fair complexion and an air of confidence, she already suspected that he might not be a peasant. Not someone who belonged to the lower class. But who knew that he would turn out to be someone of that caliber?

All this time, she had been talking to the lord of the land she was standing on right now.

And at that realization, her lips curled into an excited smile as her eyes sparkled like stars.

In that moment, her view of Deklan changed completely.

"Rrgggh…!"

Clank—!

Deklan pulled the last lever with all his might until it snapped to the end with a resonant clunk.

For a moment, there was only silence—then a deep, subsonic hum shuddered from the tower's core.

Along its obsidian length, intricate patterns ignited from within even brighter. They glowed not with a mere light, but with a pulsing luminescence as if liquid energy had been poured into ancient, forgotten veins.

Inside the structure, the sound of awakening machinery grew from a rumble to a roar.

Gears the size of millstones ground against each other, pistons thrummed, and chains hissed loudly.

Everything grew increasingly loud until a final, decisive clank that echoed across the entire hamlet.

Swoosh—!

"Woaah… That's cool." Deklan looked up in amazement.

From the pinnacle of the tower, a concentrated beam of pure, electric blue lanced brightly to the sky. It was a solid-seeming column of energy, crackling with contained mana. It cut through the night sky, a blade of azure against the deep dark.

Some of the people spotted the bluish beam that climbed skyward.

It kept climbing until it struck the dome of the translucent, blood-red barrier that encased their world.

A ripple spread across its surface—and where the blue beam met the crimson dome, the color began to seamlessly mix. It spread—like a frost crystallizing on a pan of glass in intricate, branching fractals of brilliant cerulean.

Each thread of blue merged with the red in a dazzling spectacle.

As the colors fully merged, they birthed a breathtaking, royal purple—a luminous violet that shimmered with a new kind of energy, casting the starlit landscape below in an ethereal, amethyst glow. All of this was happening right before Deklan's eyes.

He watched the spectacle in awe, not realizing that he had been holding his breath.

Soon, without a sound, the spectacle dissolved.

It simply dissolved from the centre outward, threads of light unspooling into the night until nothing but the ordinary stars and the silent—humming tower remained. At the same time as the tower finished its task, a notice from the system appeared.

[Origin Quest: Space Distortion — was completed!]

[Slosa Hamlet's Expansion Boost(s) have been unlocked: +50% Mana Regeneration, +100% Mana Production, and +10% Dimensional Fruit Effect.]

Deklan's lips curled into a smile.

He could instantly feel his mana was regenerating rapidly inside his flesh and also his Mana Veins.

An immediate effect, exactly like he wanted.

"Now that the Ward's mana production doubled, I reckoned I could summon Sasaki for longer," Deklan thought in excitement. He wanted to properly talk to her, to gauge her position towards him. "I need to find out whether flirting still works on her to increase her fondness. She might despise me for tricking her, and I need to know."

Just then, Deklan's gaze snapped to the side when he saw a figure emerging.

It was Marsha.

Of course, from how bright and loud the spectacle was, she definitely noticed it.

System, I remembered the Twin Tower of Darnina can be controlled. How do I give control to her?

[Blood. Just put a drop of blood on each tower, and she will be recognized as the ruler.]

Alright.

"Marsha, come here," Deklan gestured for her to come, and she did.

"Do you need my help?"

"Yes, I need you to put a drop of your blood in each tower."

Even though she didn't understand what doing this served, she didn't ask any questions.

Instead, she infused mana into her fingertips and then made a small cut on her palm.

Deklan scooped her blood with a finger and nudged his chin away, "Go and rub your blood on the other tower. Once it's done, you will be the one who can control the towers. You can determine if a Ghost or a person can enter the hamlet. No more malfunction."

"Okay…" Marsha nodded and went to the red tower. "That's good to hear."

Following the system's instruction, Deklan smeared her blood onto the tower's body and then waited for Marsha to do the exact same on the other tower. It didn't take long before the tower thrummed with another mechanical sound.

Eventually, it settled down.

Deklan saw that the gem now has the name 'Marsha' engraved on it, which should be a sign of success.

"Phew…" He rubbed his hands on his pants to get rid of the sweat, and then placed them on his waist, looking up at the blue gem. "It's finally over. That's some hard work right there. Activating this damn twin tower is really not easy."

Now that it was finished, he didn't stick around.

He instantly went back to the small hut, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

Tomorrow, Kaelyn would probably have her decision, so he would be busy.

"I also still need to introduce the Shadowed Town's Ghosts to the people, and that's certainly not easy, but they need to adapt so that they're safe," Deklan clasped his hands behind his head, walking leisurely through the forest. "Once that was done, I could then leave."

Oblivious to him, not long after he left, Marsha came back to the blue tower.

She wanted to find him, but he was already gone.

Marsha looked at the entrance direction and placed a hand above her heart.

Inside, she felt a weight wearing her down, but she didn't know where this sinking feeling came from.

"He must be tired…" Marsha whispered inaudibly.

Even though she hadn't spoken to him in days, she had watched him laboring over the twin towers. He pushed himself relentlessly—two grueling sessions a day, one at dawn and one late at night—a pace that left no doubt of his exhaustion.

She turned away and headed back home, believing that letting Deklan rest was the right thing to do.

Next morning.

Deklan woke up early in the morning and stretched in the backyard.

The unlocked expansion boosts from Slosa Hamlet had enriched the air, saturating it with dense, potent mana. Each dawn breath now felt like a draft of pure vitality, coursing through him—with an electric promise that made the whole world seem within his grasp.

It made all the things he did up until this point feel worth it.

Had the tragedy never happened, today would be perfect, but he's not complaining.

"Eurggh… I really don't feel like exercising, but man, I'm still skinny," Deklan flexed his bicep—and still saw nothing poking out. "Once I reach a big town, I'm going to stuff my mouth—with as much food as I possibly can. Promise!"

Deklan spent more than an hour exercising and stretching.

And once he was done, he took out a baby blue apple from the inventory.

"I've delayed it long enough; today is going to be the day," Deklan nodded determinedly. "I'm going to break through to the bronze rank."

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