"What’s wrong with you all?" Bella Noll was ready to head toward battle, but glancing at both Lyria and Livy’s silent, self-contemplating attitudes, her own determination faltered and changed to shock.

  They were leaving Eric by himself and not clinging tightly onto him!? So much so that he was nearly at the edge of the long, empty bench!?

  This was almost an unprecedented event, as both Lyria and Livy almost always attached themselves tightly to Eric, as if he would disappear if they weren’t together with him.

  Thankfully, they didn’t try to sleep in the same room or bed as him, and more than that, thankfully, Eric was very mature and never showed any annoyance over their too-clingy attitude toward him, as anyone would develop some repulsion by now.

  Bella Noll could see both Lyria and Livy’s feelings toward Eric, which they themselves were completely unaware of, but they were just kids, and these things could change over time—not to mention it was their life journey; she shouldn’t poke into their business.

  But just what might have happened that they turned so angry toward him?

  Did they already figure out that Eric eats most of the fruits in the kitchen in the middle of the night and hardly leaves anything for them during breakfast?

  Both Lyria and Livy were startled. They were so deeply entangled with their own thoughts that they completely forgot about their surroundings.

  They quickly stood up, and only then did they notice that Eric beside them had disappeared and teleported far away in the corner. They wondered when that had happened.

  Livy smiled and slowly walked toward Eric. "Brother Eric, what happened?"

  Lyria, too, smiled and paced behind Livy.

  Eric trembled more, watching both girls’ smiles, which seemed to be just one step away from reaching his own signature evil smile.

  His eyes quickly snapped toward Bella Noll as he exclaimed, "Grandma, I didn’t know you were a sword user! That’s really a good sword—can I hold it?"

  Eric quickly dashed toward Bella Noll.

  He was genuine with his exclamation, as that was truly the most beautiful sword—or rather, blade—he had ever seen in both his lives. The blade was still in its sheath, but something about it completely drew his attention, as if it had its own life or presence, a very unique and unknown feeling for him.

  The blade was long and slender, curved, with some intricate, gold-colored detailing near the hilt. The scabbard and the exposed hilt were pure silver in color.

  Lyria and Livy didn’t mind Eric’s escape, but their eyes also moved toward the blade and were shocked.

  They both exclaimed together, "Tier 1 blade?!"

  Bella Noll chuckled and moved her hand away before Eric could snatch her Juliane from her.

  She shook her head. "Eric, this blade is very heavy. Although with effort you can hold it, it’s better if you don’t touch it, as it is my own personal blade."

  She then nodded at Lyria and Livy. "Her name is Juliane, my personal partner for many years in the past. It is a high-grade Tier 2 Blade; I’ve sealed her and didn’t think I’d ever have to use her again..."

  Bella Noll sighed in her heart. Juliane was very different from any other weapon. She had a very special bond with it, and due to this, as her own health deteriorated, Juliane’s life also came to its end.

  "High-grade Tier 2!"

  Lyria dashed toward the blade and was about to ambush Bella Noll to grab it. She was already falling in love with the beautiful artistic design, and knowing it was Tier 2—even if it was just Tier 1—she wanted to closely touch, feel, experience, and admire it!

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  Bella Noll swiftly dodged Lyria’s ambush while wondering if they’d already reached their rebellion phase.

  She smiled. "Let’s go. Maybe in the future, you can have your own Tier 2. For now, you three should focus—the steps outside will be your test, so do your best."

  Eric, Lyria, and Livy were confused by what Bella Noll meant by those words.

  Test? Did that mean they also got to fight rotting corpses?

  They quickly followed behind Bella Noll with excitement.

  Sadly, none of the three had a weapon of their own, as almost all their training weapons were blunt and also too heavy—not really something they wanted to use in real fights.

  The rain had long stopped, and the clouds had cleared up quite a bit. Moonlight was shining upon the empty night streets. It was actually quite a beautiful and serene atmosphere, with no pedestrians walking the streets.

  After walking for a while, they arrived on a straight path. Bella Noll paused and turned toward Eric, Lyria, and Livy.

  "There’s still quite some distance from here to the graveyard, but the path is straight."

  Bella Noll then smiled with some unknown meaning, which completely baffled the trio.

  "Walk in front of me."

  Eric, Lyria, and Livy nodded with confusion. It didn’t matter who walked in front—the graveyard was north of the town, though they had never been there, they also wouldn’t get lost.

  They casually began strolling forward. No one spoke a word as they were heading toward a mystical battlefield for the first time. The tension and excitement were high among the three cute children.

  The atmosphere was strangely grim, and as they proceeded forward, it became grimmer for some unknown reason.

  After some time, Eric, Lyria, and Livy suddenly felt a terrifying chill throughout their skin—almost as if their skin had been scrubbed by some invisible scrubber.

  Their expressions turned serious.

  They felt quite weird, as it was their first time experiencing something like that, but now they understood why Bella Noll had asked them to walk forward.

  She must’ve prepared some new torture methods for them!

  All three abused children got excited. The current effect was nothing—it was just childish-level; they had been through far worse during training.

  But as they proceeded, the 'level' started to become more and more horrifying.

  It soon reached the point that they thought they would all bleed to death from all their pores, and at the same time, they felt someone was clawing their bones and organs from within their flesh.

  It was completely different from the dreadful sensations they had ever experienced during training. If they weren’t already filled with adrenaline and challenge, they would’ve already started trembling with horror, as what they were experiencing was simply unexplainable.

  'Bring it on!' All three of them cried out in their hearts and confidently walked forward.

  They were determined to go till the end of Celestia!

  As Eric, Lyria, and Livy proceeded further and further, their eyes slowly turned hazy, with extreme pain flashing deep inside their pupils.

  Their bodies started trembling uncontrollably.

  All three of them felt they were slowly losing their senses, and all their memories were getting wiped out little by little. Slowly, their motivation and determination also started to get erased.

  Their remaining senses kept screaming at them to turn and run back, as this was well beyond anything they could handle.

  They had even started to forget their names, genders, or what species they were.

  But no matter what, they kept proceeding forward. They just knew that they must keep moving, no matter what.

  At first, Eric could still make sense of what his physical body was experiencing. It was as if he was buried deep inside a freezing mountain, with his skin turning completely numb and senseless over time, and at the same time, he felt as if his insides were being cooked in lava, but this cooking wasn’t alleviating their freezing sensation in any way.

  Eric trembled. Even his past memories had started to become distant, and slowly, he could no longer remember anything. He only knew that he must keep moving, even if he was no longer alive. If he stopped, then he would be trampling over his own spirit and would lose himself and his own trust and faith in himself; he would gladly accept his own death over this.

  Riya was biting her lips. She wasn’t experiencing anything, as she had cut all her senses from Eric, but she could see how terrible his condition was, and it was only getting worse by the second.

  What had been just a fun trip suddenly changed into something life-threatening.

  Just what the hell was Bella Noll doing?!

  Riya was extremely panicked, as this might result in permanent mind injury, even if Eric was rescued later.

  She didn’t dare to forcefully make Eric recall his memories, as the result, due to shock, might make his condition even more severe, and Eric himself wouldn’t like this, as he was clearly trying his best to stay conscious while walking forward with utter craze and madness.

  If only he just gave up and dropped unconscious, then his situation might be a lot better than what it was right now.

  Riya could only console herself by saying that Bella Noll must be keeping an eye out and would definitely rescue Eric.

  Riya had no idea what had happened to either Lyria or Livy, as Eric’s eyes were in front and almost half-closed, and she knew that he wasn’t even looking—or couldn’t even look—with how he was suffering mentally and soul-wise.

  Riya wouldn’t even be surprised if both Lyria and Livy had already fallen unconscious and were currently rescued by Bella Noll, as they should also be going through something similar to Eric.

  Any sane person would’ve long lost their minds by now; in fact, Riya similarly wouldn’t even be surprised if both Lyria and Livy had already lost their minds and started killing themselves or each other, as the situation was that severe.

  If Eric wasn’t rescued soon, then perhaps he might lose his mind forever and never recover!

  Riya could only tightly clench her fist and teeth in fear and trepidation and wait while hoping this torment would soon end for Eric.

  But unlike what Riya had imagined, both Lyria and Livy had actually been silently dragging themselves beside Eric. They had also lost all their memories and kept walking like mummies, never pausing even for a moment.

  Bella Noll, who was walking behind the three at their slower pace, was extremely shocked in her heart.

  Eric, Lyria, and Livy had already covered over half the distance, while she was expecting they would fall just after one-fourth of the journey.

  None of them had fallen unconscious or lost their minds and kept dragging themselves despite how much they were suffering internally.

  This level of mental and soul attack through Death Energy normally could easily be blocked by Mana—even an early-stage Rank 1 could do it, or else even they would lose their minds. But here were three mortals who were still sane enough to walk forward, no matter what was happening inside them.

  It was truly shocking.

  Bella Noll sighed internally and then turned to watch the nearby few houses, noticing they were empty, with doors left wide open.

  She could guess that everyone had long been moved away by Jarvis and the other nobles, or else no mortals would be able to bear being so close to a brewing Umbroxia.

  The more Bella Noll proceeded toward the graveyard, the more she felt this was the day the Umbroxia leader would be born, as the Death Energy was that chaotic in the atmosphere.

  In a sense, that was better.

  The best way to end Umbroxia was for the leader to be born and then killed. Otherwise, the Death Energy would keep creating havoc until it naturally calmed down and slowly disappeared—but by then, the entire town would be long dead.