A 4-years old girl held three wooden toys in her hands and ran on the grassy yard while letting out a giggle sound.
She had deep-brown hair, black eyes, a soft round face, and she wore a simple white gown.
Meanwhile, a young black-haired male child chased after her while shouting.
No, his movement appeared more like a toddler's walking!
"Those are mine." Surprisingly, his voice seemed clear as ice.
On the other hand, the girl child continuously laughed while holding those toys like a treasure and moved in a zigzag manner.
She then ran towards the nearby ornamental plant, sneaked behind a silver armored soldier, and giggled while covering her mouth.
Meanwhile, the soldier stared at her in amusement and soon shook his head.
"Mama, Ivy stole my toys again." Before he could say a word, the male kid cried from afar.
"You should stop bullying your younger brother, lass." The soldier couldn't help but mutter as he heard the young child's cry.
"He deserves it for stealing my candy." Ivy pouted in displeasure and was about to stand up but suddenly froze.
The next instant, her eyes turned Fremen blue, and she appeared completely different from before.
She first stared at the silver armored soldier and spoke.
"You didn't see anything."
Saying so, she stood up, raised her hand, snapped her fingers, and disappeared from there.
A moment later, she appeared in the outskirt of the city and frowned.
"Reid's Fate changed? How?" Confusion appeared in her voice.
Then, she waved her hand, cast [Dream Walk] skill, and disappeared from there.
A second later, she reappeared in the same outskirt area and looked at the eerie black sky.
Then, she rose towards the sky, took a step forward.
But the next second, she disappeared from there and reappeared in Whisper's Valley!
After that, she made strange hand gestures, once again took a step in the air, disappeared from there, and reappeared in an underground throne hall.
Unlike before, the underground throne hall appeared empty and gloomy.
"No… Someone came here a while ago." She muttered and soon closed her eyes.
"Hmm? Reid came here? Did Charles use the Riddle of Nightmare on him? Why? What is he scheming? First of all, how did he cause a big variation in Reid's fate?" She got startled.
"Something seems wrong… He is not acting according to what mother predicted." A frown appeared on the pretty girl's forehead.
She then looked around for a moment before she shook her head in disappointment and disappeared from there.
…
Rodsley District, Nobles' District.
In the old mansion, Ashley was in the middle of doing her usual cooking work.
At that moment, her body suddenly jerked up, went stiff for a moment, and soon returned to normal.
She wore a confused look as she felt something was odd about her action but soon shook her head and continued to work.
In her Inner World, a strange crystalline white palace stood at the center and seemed to be there for ages.
But unlike the real palace, this one appeared ghostly.
No, there was a mysterious lady seated in the throne hall!
In the throne hall, a wiry auburn-haired woman in her late twenties sat on the silver throne and stared at a strange 2-meter tall mirror.
She had close-set azure eyes, faint eyebrows, silken Ivory skin, elongated face, and an aquiline nose.
Currently, the tall mirror was hovering in front of her and was showing a video of Charles's previous battle!
She calmly stared at the mirror for few more seconds and shook her head.
"A dying soul's desperate struggle, huh."
She waved her hand, moved the mirror from there, leaned her back on the silver throne, and closed her eyes.
…
In unknown farmland,
A silver-haired female figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the paddy field and looked around in cautiousness.
She was none other than Charles in his disguised form.
"Where are we?" He released his wisdom power, checked the surroundings, and asked.
"We should have arrived somewhere near the City of Iron." The Holem's Crown stopped for a moment and then asked.
"Did you get the Phylactery?"
At that moment, a hint of excitement appeared in its tone.
"What do you think?" Charles smiled mysteriously and soon took out a black-colored bracket from his pocket.
"Sneaky brat, I knew you will not back away without getting his phylactery. Shall we do the sacrifice now?" The Holem's Crown asked.
Meanwhile, Charles flipped the black bracelet for a moment and soon furrowed his brows.
"His soul is hidden in this Phylactery, right? Can we able to isolate his main consciousness from interfering? I want to completely absorb all of his memories and see if I can gain some wisdom power or some soul-related information."
His question startled the Holem's Crown greatly.
It went silently for two continuous seconds and spoke.
"It's not an impossible thing. As long as we create a soul barrier, you can indeed cut the connection to his main consciousness. But his other consciousnesses will be in his Inner World and would try their best to stop you." The Holem's Crown deliberated for a moment and asked.
"What about your replica consciousness? Is it still sending any information?"
"After Reid's main consciousness returned from the Dream World, he used his full power and erased the purple consciousness. Moreover, his second consciousness also returned to his Inner World and trying its best to remove the purple flame. But there are still few [Knowledge Absorber] spells roaming in his Inner World, and seems to be searching for precious memories." Just as he finished his words, Charles's expression stiffened.
At that moment, he received a broken piece of information.
'Reid is working for a powerful secretive organization called Edhen's Children? Their main goal is Project Destiny?' He was stunned for a moment.
'Edhen's Children… Project Destiny… I think I heard about this somewhere before….' He furrowed his brows for a moment and soon squinted his eyes.
'I remember now… When I tried to read Lydia's memory, I received the same information… Heh, the Red Prince, this Reid guy, and the Divine seem to be working for the same organization. Does that mean this 'Divine' is some big shot in this organization?' He narrowed his eyes and then fell into deep thoughts.
'If I want to use the purple consciousness, I need to wait for more than 7 days… But that Demi-Lich will find out my current location sooner… Moreover, creating a barrier will take some time. It seems I have to give up on this Phylactery.' He couldn't help but sigh.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of an idea and smiled.
'Can I go to the Fire Elemental Plane and do my work there? There is no way Reid's main consciousness would find the coordinates of the Fire Elemental Plane, right?' A cold glint appeared in his eyes.
"It's time."
Saying so, he cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, enveloped himself in crimson flame, and disappeared from there.
A few seconds later, Charles appeared in the underground basement, changed his appearance to a white-haired old man, and teleported to his room on the third floor.
Then, he appeared in front of a strange tree portrait, took an unusual emerald leaf, and returned to the underground basement.
After that, he placed the Twin Leaf on the nearby wall, recited a short chant, and disappeared from there!
…
Black Tower.
In the underground Throne Hall.
A total of 4 Undead Knights, Louise, Marissa, and two other humans, stood in front of the bone throne and appeared solemn.
Meanwhile, a half-cleaved broken skeleton sat on the throne and excluded a threatening aura around the surroundings.
"Louise, what do you think about your daughter's action?" Reid asked.
"I-It must be an Imposter, My Lord." Louise's whole body shivered.
"I know that. Your daughter would never even think of betraying you." A heavy sigh came out of his broken skull.
Then, he turned his gaze towards an obese man and stared at him in silence.
The obese man looked around 35 years old, had black hair, wide-set hazel eyes, an oblong face, a large belly, and appeared more like a merchant.
He wore a regular brown shirt, leather pants and appeared around 182 cm high.
"Willy Pickton… The former Eighty Seventh Arbiter of Storm Church… What do you know about this 'Ghost' guy?" Reid asked.
Meanwhile, Willy raised his head, stared into the skeleton's chaotic red fire, and spoke.
"His name is Charles Nightwind, My Lord. Three years ago, His Highness killed his mother to achieve something, but we, his loyal servants, failed to kill this rat. Due to some misshapes, Charles managed to escape from us. He is a very crafty kid and also has a Series Artifact under his sleeve. In less than five years, he had grown from a Rank-1 mage to a Rank-4 Mage and is currently working under this mysterious Ancient Mage." He paused for a moment and added in a gloomy voice.
"He is also an Irregular."
A silence appeared in the hall.
'Irregular… But why did our 'Destined One' ordered me to place the 'mysterious curse' on the Ancient Mage instead of him?' Reid felt puzzled inside.
Just as he was about to discuss their next plan, his reddish soul fire started to flicker intensively.
He instantly stood up from the throne and noticed that his connection with the Inner World was weakening!
'Oh no! He is taking my Phylactery to somewhere else! Pocket Dimension? Or, another plane?'
If he had a human face, others' would have noticed the shock on his face!
After a few seconds of silence, Reid calmed down a bit, waved his hand, and spoke.
"You guys go and search for his current whereabouts."
Although Louise and others were confused, they didn't dare to disobey his order and left one by one.
Once everyone was out, Reid silently sat on the throne and got anxious inside.
'I can't even track my Phylactery now. If someone finds out that my Phylactery is missing, I will be doomed. My bone regeneration power also started to slow down.'