Chapter 693: All is fair...

"Albert, I’m curious. You told Kali about the outside after discovering it at the edge of this world, but have you ever thought about leaving this place?" Elion asked.

Albert’s eyes narrowed, an odd light flashing through them. "And why would I want to do that?"

Elion shrugged. "No offence, but life is more vibrant back home. There are more cities, more races, and as a Saint, people would respect you greatly, almost to the point of worshipping you. I don’t see why anyone would want to stay here."

"It’s so bland," he continued. "Sure, there are plenty of treasures that people covet, but everything else seems inferior. The quality of life is much worse here as well."

"Is that so?" Albert asked, pondering his words. "I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about it, but I have people who depend on me."

He looked back towards his thriving settlement from where they stood upon the hill. Elion followed his gaze before turning back to him.

"So you’re saying that if you could take them with you, you might do it?"

"Perhaps," Albert replied. "But this is the place we call home. We have lives here, and considering that our greatest problem might soon be leaving this world, life should become considerably more pleasant."

He gave a disgruntled Kali a glance, and Elion could only laugh.

"Well, this might be the last we see of each other, so good luck with everything," Elion said, stepping back. "Our stay was short, but thank you for accommodating us."

Albert nodded. "It was a pleasure having you, and good luck in your endeavours. You will need it."

Elion chuckled. "I bet we will, considering all the untold dangers lurking in this place."

Maya, Yaana, Uta, Mayumi, Nora, and Cole offered their thanks and words of farewell as well, while Elion turned towards Princess Isla, Solara, and their cohort. With a shameless smile, he placed one foot in front of the other and gave a small bow.

"Princess Isla, Solara, it was a pleasure getting to know you." He straightened, his smile widening slightly. "Though I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of me in the future. Hopefully, we won’t be enemies."

"I hope so too. And it was a pleasure," they both replied at once, chuckling.

Elion then looked towards Althea, who stood quietly to the side.

Their duel had only taken place yesterday, but she already looked immaculate, so she must have taken care of the damage herself. That wasn’t particularly surprising, considering she could use light and holy magic.

"Paladin Althea, I still didn’t get to bash your face in, but it was fun dueling you," he joked.

Althea glared at him before quickly regaining her composure. "I won’t lose next time."

Elion smiled, almost laughing at her confidence.

’She must think she can defeat me once she regains her strength.’

And perhaps she could. By then, however, he intended to make sure he had become at least an Archmage, though that would be rather difficult, honestly.

’I’m going to need at least five times the amount of System points I’ve accumulated so far.’

Why, one might ask? Well, his breakthrough to High Mage had come with a rather depressing realisation: the XP required for each level had shot up into the millions!

He still couldn’t understand how that was possible. In fact, he was beginning to suspect that the System was trying to swindle him, considering he would now need ten million points to become an Archmage.

Meanwhile, advancing through the entire Advanced Mage stage had only required forty-nine thousand XP!

’How did things become so exaggerated?’

He could only imagine how astronomical the numbers would look when he needed to get through the archmage ranks, and even more so when he became a sage, and then a saint.

’What a headache!’

It would certainly take him decades, hell, centuries, to even accumulate that many system points.

Elion could only shake his head in defeat.

[If you think I’m trying to swindle you, then meditate on your core and saturate it as normal people do! You can advance by yourself! Hmph!] The system had said, after he accused it of trying to cheat him.

The increase was still unbelievable, but the System did have a point. With another way of advancing available to him, he couldn’t complain too much.

Putting those thoughts aside, he waited while the others said their goodbyes to the princess and the Holy Daughter. Once the farewells were finished, the two cohorts went their separate ways.

Albert would certainly be taking a team to retrieve the people from Kali’s underground settlement.

She had already freed them from the thrall of her horrifying spell, so things were probably chaotic down there, though her four servants would undoubtedly be doing their best to keep everything under control.

The ease with which she had declared that she no longer needed those four was chilling.

They were Sages, yet she hadn’t even bothered returning to convey her wishes or explain what would happen next. Instead, she had simply said they would understand once they noticed that the threads she used to manipulate the inhabitants had been severed.

Elion still didn’t know what to do with Eva, but for the moment, they had taken her along.

He had asked Kali to keep her tether connected, however, lest the little girl lose her mind upon regaining her senses.

Travelling with Kali and Eva in tow would certainly put a strain on their resources, especially considering how gluttonous Kali had proven to be during their short stay in Albert’s settlement.

Elion sincerely hoped she would at least hunt her own food. If not, well, they still had plenty of tentacles in storage; he didn’t believe she could keep her stomach full on just his limbs alone, lest he wanted to dismember himself to death.

He was already dreading whenever it was that she would start demanding that he give her an arm or a leg.

The thought of chopping off his own limbs sent a chill down his spine. He let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from deep within his soul.

’What have I gotten myself into?’

Meanwhile, Albert watched the two groups depart, one heading north and the other west, from his vantage point upon the hill.

His hands remained clasped behind his back as a young woman made her way up the path leading up from the settlement below, and stopped quietly behind him.

"You summoned me, Master Albert?"

"Ah... yes," Albert replied. "Send a message to the others. We will now begin with the plan."

His eyes narrowed upon Elion’s retreating figure.

"Yes," the woman answered before disappearing into the earth beneath her.

’All is fair, in love and war...’