"Kelly, every living being thinks I’m trash. Why are you... different?"

Simon had once asked her this out of curiosity.

Kelly smiled and asked in return, "Simon, just because everyone believes something is right, does that mean it must be right?"

"In my eyes, life is beautiful precisely because it comes in countless shapes and forms. Should every living being look the same, possess the same abilities, and hold the same opinions? Is that what people call good? I don’t think so."

Back then, Simon had only half understood her words.

All he knew was that he was happy. Very, very happy.

At long last, there was finally someone in this world who did not treat him as trash, but as a soul of flesh and blood, a soul with dignity.

Some time later, Kelly relied on her astonishing talent and willpower to break into the middle layer of the Bloodtide Sea.

Simon used his authority as a guard to find her.

When he saw that figure—tortured until she barely looked human, yet still gritting her teeth and refusing to fall—his heart felt as if something had seized it viciously.

"Kelly, give up."

He advised her out of kindness. "It’s too painful. You’ll never be able to reach the deepest part."

Kelly forced out a faint smile. She was a girl who loved to smile.

"Simon, how could you think that? We of the Aetheria human race have never believed in anything called ’impossible.’"

"We only believe in whether one has determination. As long as you have determination, you can definitely do it."

"Really?"

Simon blinked. He felt as if something inside his mind had cracked open, allowing a ray of light to seep in.

"Then... if I have determination, can I become the strongest in the God Realm too?"

"Of course, Simon," Kelly said with certainty.

"But I’m crippled, Kelly!" Simon said, both shocked and dejected.

"Simon, the flaw you were born with is only an obstacle at the starting line. It is not your destination."

Kelly smiled, and there was a conviction in that smile that made it impossible to refute.

"I’ve always felt that rather than chasing after something as vague and illusory as ’the strongest in the God Realm,’ it would be better to keep your feet on the ground and become the ’strongest Simon.’"

"You are you. You don’t need to live as someone else’s shadow. Compare yourself only to yourself. Surpass the person you were yesterday."

"Wouldn’t becoming the strongest Simon be far more meaningful than those empty titles?"

This time, Simon truly took her words to heart.

His eyes grew hot, and somewhere in his chest, it felt as if a fire had been lit, burning fiercely.

Toward Kelly, he developed a deep gratitude.

"Kelly... you’ll reach the deepest part of the Bloodtide Sea, right?"

he asked.

"I will, Simon. I will definitely reach that place."

Kelly’s voice was very soft, yet incomparably firm.

"Why do you have to reach that place?"

Simon did not understand.

Kelly’s smile suddenly faded, and a thin layer of sorrow surfaced in her eyes.

She sighed softly. "Because... I’ve already failed to keep a promise I made to someone. I don’t want to fail at the most important thing he entrusted to me as well."

"Right now, I can’t save my people. But I have to do something. Even if I have to risk this life of mine, I must find a way to save them."

Carrying that sense of impact within him, Simon returned to his post.

Many years later, relying on the belief he had drawn from Kelly, he tempered his physical body to an unimaginable degree.

With a single finger, he could crush a supreme-grade expert to death!

Although his mind power remained weak, forever stuck at the legendary-grade level, his true strength had become a secret known to no one.

"All of this is because of Kelly. Without her, there would be no Simon today."

He wanted to find her.

At long last, in the deepest part of the Bloodtide Sea, he saw Kelly again.

"Kelly, you would rather endure all these years here than push open that Door of Truth?"

Simon’s voice was full of confusion. "You clearly had the ability to push it open long ago..."

"Do you know what the price of opening that door is?"

Kelly asked weakly, her voice like a candle flame flickering in the wind.

"What is it?"

"It is... to forget everything."

The corners of Kelly’s lips curved upward.

It was as if she had seen a day from long, long ago...

That afternoon after the rain in Soul Devouring Vale. That figure descending from the sky. And the rainbow she had clutched tightly in her palm.

"If you refuse to forget, then why won’t you leave?"

Simon was even more confused. "Why are you staying here? What exactly is it for?"

Kelly’s smile did not change. She said faintly, "Perhaps... whether one lets go or stays behind, both require the same amount of courage."

"Simon, what is the Endless Starsea... like?"

she suddenly asked.

Simon fell silent for a long time, as if searching through his memories for an answer.

"I looked through a vast number of ancient records,"

he said in a low voice. "But when I reached the end of every book, only two words remained—cruelty."

"Those experts of the God Realm, those experts from other worlds, and even the ancient beings from millions of years ago—every single one of them said the same thing: the starry sky is cruel. The weak are prey to the strong. Blood flows like rivers!"

"Kelly, don’t push open that door. Even if you go through, you’ll only be leaping from one hell into another, even deeper hell."

Kelly continued to smile, the curve of her lips unchanged.

"Simon, just because everyone believes something is right, does that mean it must be right?"

she asked in return. "Are we only allowed to lower our heads and obediently endure everything fate forces upon us?"

"I think... what everyone believes to be right may not necessarily be right. I’ve always wanted to do something different, to give this world one more choice."

"Besides cruelty, there can still be another choice."

Kelly’s voice was very soft, yet every word carried weight.

"Then... will you push open that door?"

Simon’s voice tightened. "Your memories—are they more important to you than this belief?"

"There is someone who is very important to me."

Kelly’s gaze pierced through the void and landed upon that door, half real and half illusory. It was as if she were looking toward a place very, very far away.

"If you ever meet Faustus of the human race... tell him for me that Kelly is already dead."

"I don’t know whether I’ll push open that door. I don’t know how long I’ll remain here either..."

That was the last time Simon saw Kelly.

Kelly...

Are you still in the Bloodtide Sea now?

Simon shook his head, pressing those surging memories back into the depths of his heart.

Before his eyes, the spatial passage leading to Aetheria had already opened wide.

"I’m going to destroy your homeland, Kelly."

He said silently in his heart, "But you were right. The Endless Starsea should not have only one way to live."

"I’ve already found a way to notify the person you could never forget—Faustus."

"I’m sorry... I couldn’t lie to you."

Bitterness welled up in Simon’s heart. "I told him where you were as well."

"If... if you’re still alive, perhaps the two of you can meet again."

He took a deep breath and descended beside the four Godkin experts.

"Simon, why are you only arriving now?"

His teammate’s voice was filled with impatience.

Simon’s expression remained calm. He did not care about their thoughts at all.

...

Faustus silently sensed his Divine Domain.

He had already mastered the secret technique he had learned from Luna_Fox to its utmost limit.

Not long ago, he had still been only a legendary-grade archer.

Now, one of his feet had already stepped onto the threshold of a quasi-sage.

The speed at which his strength had risen was so fast that even he found it somewhat unreal. And yet, every single step had been incredibly stable.

"Only... I’m still missing one kind of Holy Relic."

he murmured. "My Divine Domain has yet to reach perfection. Although I can already contend with a sage rank expert right now, this still isn’t my strongest form."

"If I can obtain a supreme treasure capable of constructing my Divine Foundation and push my Divine Domain to perfection... that will be true invincibility."

Suddenly, Faustus’s mind stirred, and he abruptly raised his head.

In the void, space became like the surface of water wrinkled by the wind. Silent ripples spread outward in ring after ring.

"Someone’s here."

Camille’s pupils contracted sharply, and her hand was already resting on the hilt of her sword.

"Who could it be?"

Faustus raised an eyebrow.

Whoosh—!

A figure appeared without the slightest warning.

The newcomer wore luxurious robes, with a refined and dignified bearing. His strength was unfathomable.

Faustus and Camille both furrowed their brows instinctively...