Chapter 44: Mystery Upon Mystery

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Mystery Upon Mystery

Ivy smoothed the rumpled front of her tunic, her cheeks still pink. "I honestly don’t know. Maybe he has the ability to decipher their techniques, but even if he does, I doubt the Alliance would simply let us leave."

Ivy paused, but before she could continue, Rachel finished the thought for her. "Because they hate our kind?"

Ivy nodded and rubbed her temples with two fingers. "Honestly, when they first told us, I never expected it to be this bad..."

She covered her face with one hand, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. "Who would have expected that the reason the Shadow Monarch reached Sovereign rank so quickly was that he entered this tower, betrayed the Alliance, who wanted to reach the top, and stole one of their core treasures after finding a way to synchronize with them?"

She lay down on Rachel’s thighs and let her stroke her head. "Now that the tower has opened again after so many years, they want our human race to pay back everything he stole with interest, by making us sacrifice ourselves to decipher their technique and use it to grow stronger."

"But Ivy..." Rachel said, tilting her head. "Isn’t it strange, though? If they were betrayed by the Shadow Monarch, why trust humans again with a core technique? It almost feels like they’re using this as an excuse to give us hope before crushing it."

Ivy’s eyelids drooped halfway. "I feel the same way. But at the same time, I also feel like they genuinely want us to decipher this technique."

Rachel took her time gathering her thoughts, her hand coming to rest on Ivy’s forehead before she spoke again. "Hmm... Do you think this technique has something to do with ascension?"

Ivy suddenly sprang up and sat cross-legged, facing Rachel with her brows pulled together. "Huh? Why do you think so?"

Rachel met Ivy’s gaze without blinking. "This reappearance of the tower. Who do you think benefited most from it?"

Ivy lowered her head and chewed the inside of her cheek for a long moment before answering. "Probably the Shadow Monarch. Not only was the war put on hold, but several smaller factions have started believing his bullshit about a secret realm appearing inside the tower."

Rachel nodded. "Correct. He undoubtedly gained the most from this situation. Plus, if most forces put everything they have into clearing the tower, that would give him enough of an opening to attack the other Sovereign domains and emerge victorious."

She raised a finger, her eyes sharpening. "Besides, doesn’t all of this feel a bit too coincidental? The moment the Shadow Monarch reached the peak of Rank 1 after entering here years ago, conquering up to the nineteenth floor, stealing from the Alliance, and becoming an official Sovereign... the towers suddenly reappear across every domain?"

Ivy’s eyes widened, and her lips parted. "Wait, you mean to say he planned all this so someone else could clear the way for him to ascend?"

Rachel smirked and jabbed a finger toward the ceiling. "Exactly. If I had to guess, he most likely expected the Alliance to have already cleared most of the tower, giving him an opportunity to leave without putting in much effort."

A deep frown crossed Ivy’s face. Seeing this, Rachel quickly explained, "Listen. For years, haven’t we heard stories about Sovereigns ascending to the Second Heaven, yet we’ve never actually been given a guide on how to get there? And isn’t it strange that Sovereigns like the Beguiling Demon Empress have remained here for centuries without ascending? If my guess is right, then normal ascension either doesn’t exist or, at the very least, isn’t possible for us."

She suddenly let out a slow breath. "Besides, if the tower really is the path, wouldn’t that explain why the Alliance wants to go farther so badly? Perhaps they’re from that world, got stuck here, and are trying to return."

A heavy silence settled over the room. Ivy shook her head quickly, her hair whipping against her shoulders. "No, no, that doesn’t make sense. If the tower was really the path to the second heaven, then my family’s ancestors, who send us messages from there, would have surely said something by now."

Another silence pressed down on them before Rachel let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the bed, her arms flopping wide. "If that isn’t the case, then what?"

Ivy shook her head and lay down beside her, shoulder pressed to Rachel’s. "I wish I knew that too."

Since there was no solution at the moment, Rachel and Ivy decided to put the matter on hold. After all, there were too many obscure things they still didn’t know about.

"Hey, Ivy."

"Hmm..."

"How do you think Michael is doing now?"

"Probably well, I guess. He’s living with a Sovereign, after all, and from what my grandfather told me before I left, she’s quite fond of him."

"Hehehe, does that mean we’ll have a younger sister who’s a Sovereign and technically older than us?"

"..."

"That will be seriously messed up..." Ivy tried her best to hold back a grin. "But I don’t hate the idea of being called Senior Sister by my grandfather’s agemate."

"Hehehe, just imagine I go back to the academy, and the Dean comes to the faculty office and calls me Big Sis." Rachel suddenly laughed. "That would be a tale for years..."

The two of them went silent. The soft wind rattling against the paper windows was the only sound filling the room besides their steady breathing. After a long while, Ivy asked,

"So, how many more girls do you think he’ll have when we meet? I bet ten more."

"Hmm..." Rachel pondered the topic seriously. "Our husband isn’t some slut, Ivy. I’ll bet on three more, and that includes my little Dean sister."

Ivy giggled. "You seem to be enjoying this more than I am."

Rachel giggled too. "Who could have guessed I’d actually enjoy being part of a harem?"

The two of them went silent again. Another few seconds passed before Ivy spoke.

"We should probably start meditating too, don’t you think?"

"Yeah... most probably."