Chapter 1306 Ten Countries [1]

It had been more than a year since the apocalypse descended upon Earth.

Before that, Timi had once been naturally cheerful, with friends, family, school, and the ordinary worries expected of someone his age.

He lost most of the people he loved in the first days.

Only his younger twin sisters remained, and protecting them forced him to adapt faster than he otherwise might have.

Timi learned early to be ruthless.

Aside from his sisters, no one left in the world could crack his cold exterior.

Not even the first dark elf he saw.

That is, until he met Lily.

Hmmm, how could it be said?

Timi himself didn't quite know what he thought of Lily.

It was not as though Lily was completely filled with the innocence expected of someone her age.

Though Jester hadn't gone all out on her, out of consideration for Michael, it was still inevitable she'd be influenced by him regardless.

Still, to others who had seen much more, that little tint in her innocence was nothing.

To Timi, looking at Lily sometimes felt strangely similar to staring at the sun, or some bright angel floating in midair.

Bright and warm.

Perhaps a little irritating if stared at too long.

[Meme Image]

A year ago, someone like Lily wouldn't have been unusual on Earth.

The apocalypse had changed that.

Now there were mothers who sold their own children for food, and fathers who abandoned their families because another mouth meant fewer supplies.

What was innocence worth in a world like that?

Nothing but a luxury for the sheltered and ignorant.

Even Timi's twin sisters, barely older than ten, already had blood on their hands.

He could protect them from many things, but not from the reality of the world they now lived in.

That was perhaps why Lily, the only human he interacted long with outside Earth, had left such a strange impression on him.

When they first met in the Origin Battlefield, traveling with her had been a practical decision.

Timi needed information, and Lily was one of the first people he'd met who seemed trustworthy enough to cooperate with.

Her strength helped; despite her personality, she wasn't weak, which let him treat her as an equal.

What he hadn't expected was for that cooperation to keep going, or for him to grow comfortable with it.

Whatever the reason, being close in age and strength, Lily's simple, straightforward personality had cracked something in the shell he'd spent over a year building, and he hadn't even fully realized it.

Some part of him probably had, but refused to admit it.

Admitting it meant admitting he was lonely.

For more than a year, nearly every relationship in his life had been built around survival.

His sisters were different, but they were also people he had to protect, and that responsibility never went away.

After they were separated, Timi told himself it was just another unavoidable consequence of the Origin Battlefield.

But as the days passed, he found himself searching anyway, some part of his attention always watching for a familiar figure with black hair and green eyes.

Unfortunately, his searches bore no results.

Timi had already started preparing to advance in Rank, having nearly given up on ever seeing her again, never expecting he'd run into her under such strange circumstances.

For the first time in days, his cold exterior cracked again.

Timi's completely black eyes narrowed slightly.

"If you don't have a share in the money, why would anyone bother calling you by a title?"

Lily opened her mouth, then closed it a second later, and helplessly shrugged.

"Okay, fine. Whatever."

The argument clearly wasn't worth having.

Her expression brightened again almost at once as she turned back to Timi.

"But forget that. How have you been? It's been so long!"

"I've been fine."

[Image]

Timi had barely finished answering when Lily reached forward and grabbed his hand.

"Come on! Let's talk inside."

He was pulled forward before he could properly react.

Lily had already turned around, dragging him toward Evergreen Haven with enthusiasm.

Arianne had already begun walking ahead of them with Ace and Lia, though she occasionally glanced back.

Once a reasonable distance separated them from Arianne, Timi leaned slightly toward Lily.

"Who is she?"

Lily followed his gaze.

Her expression immediately became slightly mischievous.

She leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"My cousin's girlfriend."

Timi's eyebrows rose.

Lily had always said her cousin was extremely powerful.

While that remained to be seen, Timi's doubts only growing more now that this supposedly powerful cousin had a girlfriend in the Zeroth Layer, he had to admit the man did have the eyes and taste of a god.

As they continued deeper into Evergreen Haven, however, Timi's amusement gradually disappeared, and his expression became increasingly solemn.

The settlement had already looked impressive from outside, but walking through it revealed something that hadn't been obvious before: the sheer number of Awakeners.

They were everywhere.

Timi had already encountered plenty of Awakeners since entering the Origin Battlefield, but seeing so many concentrated in one organized settlement was different.

It wasn't his first time seeing a settlement this stabilized from afar, but it was his first time walking inside one.

More importantly, their reactions toward Lily were strange.

"Your Highness."

"Your Highness."

The title followed them wherever they went.

Some merely lowered their heads respectfully as Lily passed, while others bowed considerably deeper.

One particularly enthusiastic young Awakener seemed moments away from dropping onto one knee before Lily hurriedly waved him away with a visibly frightened expression.

Timi silently watched everything.

The invisible label he had previously placed on Lily's forehead was beginning to feel increasingly inadequate.

Daughter from a rich home?

This was starting to look considerably heavier than that.

Timi's completely black eyes moved toward Lily again.

She continued walking normally beside him, occasionally returning greetings while pretending not to notice the deeper bows.

Somehow, his friend had grown even more suspicious since they'd separated.

Before Timi could spend much longer considering it, Lily suddenly stopped, and he nearly walked into her.

[Image]

Only then did Timi realize how far into the settlement they had traveled.

His attention lifted.

Directly ahead of them stood an enormous black pillar.

"First off, before you disappear into heaven knows where, register with my territory first. I promise you there's no disadvantage!"

* * *

A/N: Multiple chapters coming in batches before reset! Still editing some at the moment! Also! Last day of the month! Please vote to support the novel and motivate the author! Let the novel explode with your golden tickets! Thank you for the continued support!

Hopefully, one of your favorite authors, _Drakon, wishes you a happy last day of the month!