"But what if I keep you hidden in a small dark room in the basement?"

Sonia suddenly asked, "You can stay indoors cultivating and entertaining yourself, and I'll be the only one to visit you. This way, there's no risk of exposure, you won't implicate me, and we can still be together."

The suggestion sounded feasible at first, but Ash felt something was off, a strange sense of trepidation rising in his heart. He shook his head hurriedly, "No, I need to return to Gospel to find Liss!"

"But you can't return immediately," Sonia's eyes sparkled with a peculiar light, "During this time—"

"Um..."

Diya raised her hand and said, "Actually, I have a way to establish a Sky Gate from Gospel to Dazzling Star, though the Sky Gate's position in Dazzling Star is random. If you give me a few days, it's not impossible to create a Sky Gate to Jiale City."

Ash was stunned, then reacted, "The Gospel System?"

"The concept of the Sky Gate is a rule of the New World. Even the Divine Beings of Gospel need time to familiarize themselves with its intrinsic patterns," Diya said. "The Technique Spirit of the Sky Gate definitely has a better way to establish a directional Sky Gate, but that requires the wisdom of mages to develop. The Gospel System can only analyze through big data, using an exhaustive method to forcibly approximate the range of Sky Gates established in different environments and at different times."

"If you want to return to Gospel, Ash, I'll have it arranged within three days," Diya said seriously. "Now that the Kingdom of Gospel is under my rule, the All-Knowing Weaver has never given any special instructions regarding you Otherworldly Travelers. As long as you return, I can not only protect you; the seven-hundred-year stockpile of the Yisu royal family will be open to you."

"You've been drifting around for so long," the witch said gently, "now you can finally return home."

Ash was overwhelmed by the sudden joy — could they really leave Dazzling Star now? Without needing to delve into the Abyss, without slowly opening Sky Gates, just waiting for Diya to set up the Sky Gate?

He, Igula, and Harvey finally didn't need to wander aimlessly on the earth anymore; they could rest under the protection of Empress Yisu?

Had their long journey finally reached the promised destination?

"Can the Sky Gate be permanently fixed?" Sonia asked, her eyes wide.

Diya shook her head, "No, we haven't researched the related Miracle yet."

"Then can you create the Sky Gate frequently, like let me go to the Kingdom of Gospel two or three times a week?"

"No, creating a directional Sky Gate also consumes a lot of Gospel System resources. Too many factors influence the operation—Void Realm fluctuations, environmental variables, and even the waters of the Flowing Gold River... Every time a directional Sky Gate is created, it will squeeze a large amount of Gospel computational power. It's feasible once or twice, but doing so long term would have an indelible negative impact on the economy and livelihood."

"What about twice a month? Enter once, leave once, and I'll take a month-long holiday."

"Still not possible."

"Why not?"

"Because I wasn't planning on telling you about this at all."

Diya lowered her head, staring at her toes, "If Ash were in another country, I would secretly tell him this news. But since he's in Dazzling Star, there's no way I can hide it from you, so I might as well be honest."

Ash hesitated to speak, his gaze darting between the two girls.

"...Aha."

Sonia crossed her arms and said calmly, "One of you didn't plan to tell me you're in Dazzling Star, and the other didn't want to tell me you can connect to Dazzling Star. Truly, you two... father and daughter?"

"I said," Diya pursed her lips tightly, "Liss is Ash's daughter. I am Diya! I'm the princess, Ash is my knight!"

"Clearly, you've been trying to avoid this point. You fear he'll see you as a daughter, making your relationship purely familial," Sonia said. "But you and Liss share one body with multiple souls. When you were on the Time Continent, you didn't show any affection for the 'Observer' beyond friendship, so you actually fell for him from Liss's perspective, didn't you?"

"Ash mentioned that your Yisu royal family seemingly has no paternal lineage, and the maternal side is occupied by Gospel's Divine Being puppets, so you, the princess, must lack paternal and maternal love. Although you've been avoiding it, the starting point of your feelings is actually an infatuation with the fatherly love he gives you?"

Ash stood up nervously, "Sword Maiden..."

The Sword Maiden directly pushed him back down, staring intently at the witch, whose face had turned pale, "Though my Spirit Faction knowledge is shallow, I know that sharing a body with multiple souls influences each other. Liss's feelings for Ash will affect you sisters, and your feelings for Ash will also affect Liss... Can you really distinguish whether you're looking for a lover or a father?"

The witch's lips trembled, her eyes filled with tears, as if she might cry at any moment. Suddenly her hair color changed, black, white, and red interchanging, finally settling into a distinctly dirty hue. She gritted her teeth and said, "This is why we don't want you to come to Gospel."

"The Void Realm is our limit of tolerance, we don't want to see you in reality anymore."

Sonia laughed, seemingly amused, "Tolerance? What are you 'tolerating'?"

"Tolerating your violation of our agreement to remain friends? Tolerating your sneaky actions when I'm not looking? Tolerating your intentional or unintentional hindrance of my closeness to Ash?" The witch's voice grew louder, her expression increasingly aggrieved, "You've nearly taken all my solitary moments in the Void Realm, and you ask me what I'm tolerating?"

"You don't wish to be proactive, to compete, so why are you blaming me?"

"Do you think I didn't want to be proactive? I was too afraid to take the initiative!" The witch shook her head vehemently, her tangled hair creating murky colors. "I didn't want to argue with you and disrupt the group's atmosphere or ruin the stable relationship we finally formed. But you always assume everything is rightfully yours; you always want to take more, stuffing your pockets with sweets and still asking for more!"

"But back then, I could still comfort myself that once Ash returned to Gospel, we wouldn't have to worry about your gaze, that we would have time belonging just to the princess and the knight. We... at least wouldn't need to be so pathetically humble in our love, like dust."

"You should be humble," Sonia said pointedly. "Because I was there first!"

"Oh, is that so?" The witch pointed at Ash, "If a childhood sweetheart suddenly fell from the sky, would you gracefully step aside?"

"Such hypotheticals are meaningless."

"Yet you only know the 'Observer' in the Void Realm. You don't understand the real Ash, what he likes to do, what he likes to eat, who his friends are... From this perspective, I've been fond of all of Ash before you were, and you're just fixating on the side called 'Observer'!"

"Not to mention, in Dazzling Star you can't even protect him, while in Gospel I can offer him all the support he needs. If we're really going to discuss who should be humble, it certainly isn't me, who can provide a whole nation!"

Sonia's anger burned almost to the point of breaking her skin. She instinctively clenched the sword hilt, her eyes blood-red, "You—"

"You're selfish." The witch retorted unyieldingly, her fingers weaving sharp lines of death. "But that's fine; we're all selfish, but you can't be so selfish as to think everyone else is selfless."

"Is a seed that missed its season not allowed to sprout? Is late-blooming love meant to be handed over?" She shouted, "Sword Maiden, I've never wanted to defeat you or make you step down because I know that's impossible. We are destined to be comrades-in-arms with shared life and death, our fates interwoven... More importantly, Ash will never give you up."

"But you think you can cut off my relationship with Ash."

"I've had enough of this treatment in the Void Realm, and I won't endure your bullying in reality, either. I won't bring you to the Kingdom of Gospel, never."

"That's because it's all rightfully mine!" Sonia's face flushed red, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Then what did I do wrong?" The witch tightened her grip on the fatal lines. "Is it wrong to fall for the knight who saved me from falling, the prince who led me out of the Imperial Palace? Why must I endure in front of you? You don't consider my feelings at all... you haven't even thought about Ash's position."

Sonia bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes like pearls, sliding down her cheeks. Yet she stubbornly lifted her head, her red ponytail arrogantly waving:

"I'm not wrong!"

Bang!

The sword's tip struck heavily against the ruby floor. Ash stood up, resting on his longsword, spreading his Void Wings, unleashing his Holy Domain, the color of the sword technique power surging violently.

"Speaking of which," he suddenly said, "it's been over a month since I've seen you. I don't know how much you've improved."

"Let's fight, with all our strength."

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