Chapter 275: Their Private Secret

The sun shone brightly on the road, and the snow mountains of the North shimmered with a holy silver light under the clear sky.

Ansu glanced at Freya beside him.

Since inheriting her memories, she had been a different person—exceptionally excited, full of energy, and muttering incessantly the whole way.

The two of them walked at the back of the group, constantly discussing what had just happened, causing their pace to slow down so much that Archbishop Paul looked back frequently.

What was wrong with these two young people? Why did they suddenly have so much to talk about?

"Lord Ansu..." Freya pleaded once more, "is it really not allowed?"

After experiencing such immense power, she felt a spiritual transformation; the feeling of becoming stronger was almost addictive, and she really disliked her current, powerless self.

In her foresight, she had been so powerful, like a deity.

But now... she was frail and weak.

Moreover, that version of her could surely hold her own against Celia, right? That was God-Descent, true divine power!

Celia definitely wouldn't be as strong as her when she manifested God-Descent.

She thought proudly, her lips curling upward involuntarily.

"No." Ansu shook his head again. "I told you, stop treating your own life so lightly. The physical burden of manifesting God-Descent is far too great. Do you really want to shatter into pieces? To end up in bits and pieces everywhere?"

"Oh." Freya nodded gloomily. "Fine..."

She could only close her eyes, replaying the memories of that battle with lingering fascination.

The holy light tearing through the sky, the shock of clashing with Gulzan, and the determination of burning her own life to protect the one she loved.

I'm so amazing.

As she thought, she suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze bright.

She seemed to have thought of a good idea.

"How about this, Lord Ansu."

"Ten seconds!"

She counted on her fingers. "I think ten seconds is within my body's tolerance. As long as there's no serious internal organ damage, I can fully recover afterward. Just let me manifest God-Descent for ten seconds!"

Ansu fell into silence.

Freya was so desperate to become stronger that she was becoming a bit manic...

"Lord Ansu..."

Freya gently tugged on his finger and leaned her face closer.

Ansu glanced at her; that clear, fair face was right there, her eyelashes trembling slightly as her eyes flickered toward him.

"Please, I'm begging you! Lord Ansu..."

She blinked her eyes, her tone carrying a playful, spoiled plea.

Looking at her like this, Ansu sighed inwardly and finally relented. "Fine, you can use it, but for ten seconds at most."

It seemed that this combat experience unique to her was indeed a good practical exercise; at least it allowed her to estimate her own limits.

Seeing Freya about to jump for joy, he paused and cautioned her again:

"But you can only manifest God-Descent when it is absolutely necessary. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Freya was overjoyed, her eyes curving into two cute crescents.

"Yay!"

Having finally gotten Ansu to agree, she suppressed the excitement in her heart and looked at the person right in front of her.

She suddenly realized—

They were standing very close...

Her cheeks flushed slightly as another thought suddenly occurred to her.

She had been so focused on becoming stronger... but at the end of that battle, she had actually kissed Lord Ansu!

A kiss that used up all her life force, a farewell kiss full of longing and love.

She was so bold...

But well done, Freya!

In the final moments of her life... she was about to die anyway. If she had to do it again, she would still do the same.

"Ansu..."

"Hmm?"

Freya smiled softly, then stood on her tiptoes and leaned into Ansu's ear.

"It was a beautiful ending."

Ansu looked at her, his reflection mirrored in those pale gold eyes.

A smile also touched the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, it truly was."

...

The two caught up with the group and continued east toward the foot of the snow mountains.

Even from a great distance, thin trails of smoke could be seen rising; it seemed the migrating people had already built their new homes.

Ansu scrolled through the last few system prompts.

【You have chosen to let Freya inherit the memories of this simulation round.】

【Evaluation: B】

【Reward: Points * 60】

【Remaining Points: 385】

Ansu pondered silently. Since a head-on confrontation with Gulzan wouldn't work... he might as well go back and see Leo.

The key to breaking the deadlock might lie in this 'vessel' that absorbed the power of faith.

Thinking of this, he took out his tactical communicator.

He prepared to inform Celia, who was outside the "divine realm", of the key intelligence he had gathered.

【Wolfgar high priest Gulzan is creating a divine realm and shaping a false Chosen One to absorb the power of faith within the domain, attempting to ascend to godhood.】

【Gulzan specializes in necromancy and is at the Saint Tier. He possesses the ability or an item to absorb the power of faith; the reason is currently unknown.】

【Investigate this guy.】

Subsequently, he entered and sent out information regarding Gulzan himself, his four necromancer students, the Underworld Bone Puppet, and their combat characteristics one by one.

Once the domain vanished, it would be a war.

He needed Professor Duncan to equip the "battle mage regiment" with more reasonable gear for fighting Gulzan's undead army.

Ansu was very much looking forward to the performance of their battle mage regiment.

After finishing this, he tucked the communicator back into his robe.

Beside him, Freya suddenly let out a yawn.

The initial burst of excitement seemed to have passed, and her expression began to grow weary, her eyelids drooping slightly.

"Lord Ansu, why do I feel so tired..."

She muttered in confusion, "I really want to rest for a bit and sleep..."

"Because you are indeed exhausted," Ansu said. "Even after a nightmare, one feels shaken for a while upon waking, let alone a battle like that."

In the system simulation, physical injuries could be recovered, but mental fatigue and trauma were inherited perfectly.

This was his experience from long-term use of the simulation; sometimes he would return to reality and be utterly exhausted.

"Oh..." Freya nodded, only half-understanding.

Ansu smiled and said, "Once we get back to the camp, you should rest first. It's safe there, so sleep as long as you need."

"Okay," Freya nodded obediently.

After walking for a while, she suddenly asked again:

"By the way, Lord Ansu, this thing we just did..." She looked around and lowered her voice. "What is this ability to foresee the future called?"

She looked at him seriously, her pale gold eyes full of curiosity.

"Is it a random perception? Or a controllable... ability? Can we use this method frequently, constantly foreseeing until we find a way to defeat that guy?"

Ansu thought to himself that he was indeed doing exactly that.

However, everything was restricted by points.

On this trip to the North, he had plenty of points; in the past, he wouldn't have dared to waste simulation attempts so freely.

"There are conditions; we can't rely on this for every situation." Ansu shook his head. "Just think of it as a magical prophetic ability. The specific principles are hard to explain. Since you feel like you were dreaming, let's just call it a 'prophetic dream'."

He looked at her and added one last thing: "This might happen to you again in the future, but whether you can remember those things depends on me."

"Oh..."

Freya was thoughtful.

It sounded like Lord Ansu could actively control it, rather than it being a passive sense of danger...

But since he wasn't willing to say more, she wouldn't ask.

The fact that Lord Ansu could share so many secrets with her already showed he trusted her immensely.

...

By evening.

The group stopped to rest, lighting a campfire and setting up camp.

The two sat on a large log. The setting sun painted the snow mountains a warm orange-red, and the evening breeze blew gently, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.

Freya smiled and leaned toward Ansu, suddenly linking her arm intimately with his.

"Lord Ansu, I'm tired... I want to lean on you and sleep for a bit."

Ansu turned his head to look at her.

She blinked playfully, her lips curving into a slight arc.

"Lord Ansu, in the prophetic dream, I risked my life to save you! Being this tired is all for your sake, so you have to take good care of me for this~"

Ansu muttered inwardly; the little Holy Maiden wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.

He pursed his lips but didn't pull his arm away.

Freya was delighted and hugged his arm even tighter.

Then she leaned against him, her cheek resting on his shoulder, as they quietly watched the distant sunset together.

She knew it.

Lord Ansu actually cared about her a lot and doted on her, even though he never said it out loud.

Even though their ending in the prophetic dream was tragic.

She felt that the relationship between her and Ansu, the distance between their hearts, had grown closer in that space between life and death.

The way they both thought of each other and fought to protect one another—she remembered it.

That final kiss that used up her life—she remembered that too.

This was a secret that belonged only to the two of them.

She liked this trip to the North.

The fading light of the setting sun fell on her shoulder, the breeze brushed through her hair, and the most important person was right beside her, within reach.

Freya stole a glance at him, the smile on her face impossible to hide.

It was wonderful.