He then grasped Elara's hand with his palm. “Whoever your future life partner may be and whatever you decide, it is your choice and freedom. No one has the right to take that away from you! And I will make sure that not only this man but even that man named Claus will not take it from you!”“Darrin…” Elara murmured, looking at the young man. She couldn't find the words to say, and her eyes welled up with tears. Her heart was deeply moved. She never imagined that Darrin cared so much about her and defended her with all his heart and soul.Elara clung to Darrin's arm even tighter, not wanting to let go. She could say with great certainty to herself that this was the man she chose. This was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.On the other hand, what Darrin said made Asmodeus clench his jaws tightly. “How dare you!” His fists clenched even tighter. Without realizing it, he had exerted more than eighty percent of his internal energy, causing his palms to emit a bone-chil

Darrin sat on the ground, holding his side. His throat tasted metallic, and he felt something rising from his stomach.Spurt!A mouthful of thick blood spurted from his mouth. His body ached terribly, especially his ribs."How can he be this strong?" he thought. Asmodeus was ranked the same as him. However, the man's internal energy felt far more terrifying than his own.Darrin kept staring at the guard, his breathing slightly ragged. It was clear without saying who among the two of them was now superior. Even so, his eyes clearly showed that he held no fear of his opponent.On the other side, Asmodeus's lips widened, revealing a sinister smile. "Hahaha!" His body then vanished and appeared right in front of Darrin."I gave you a chance, but you wasted it. So, there's no one to blame but yourself! Your stupidity blinds you to the vast gap in our abilities!"Still panting, Darrin retorted, "You better save that speech for yourself!" He replied just as sharply. "I'm not dead yet, so the

Elara might not understand why Darrin remained silent when she told him her plan to have them both escape. It wasn't because Darrin wasn't listening. He was experiencing something much more shocking than that.A few minutes earlier."System, I really need strength! Please, make me strong now!" Darrin pleaded earnestly in his heart. "I don't need to be stronger than anyone, I just want a little extra strength to defeat this bastard!"Until now, Darrin had never asked directly from his system. Not casually nor desperately. Whenever he had a wish, his system would respond without Darrin needing to voice it.But this time, the situation was different. Darrin desperately wanted that power. He wanted to defeat Asmodeus, a unique adversary who could rapidly increase his internal energy. Additionally, and this was his biggest and strongest reason, he wanted to protect Elara!With such a strong desire, of course, Darrin was genuinely hopeful that his system would grant his wish. However, as th

“No?” asked Darrin, a look of discomfort on his face. “What do you mean? She’s in danger, and I can’t let that happen. I have to help her!”“Hahaha!” The fox laughed again. “Calm down! Nothing will happen to her, but only if you listen to what I have to say.”“Alright! Say what you need to say!” Darrin said, his face still tense. He still didn’t understand what the fox actually meant. “After that, you have to keep your word that she’ll be safe!”“Of course!” The fox nodded. Its previously relaxed expression now turned a bit serious. It seemed to want to show Darrin that it wasn’t joking about its words.“You need to know that we are in a dimension outside of time,” Fenrisar continued. “No matter how long you stay here, it won’t affect what happens outside. Time out there will remain unchanged.”Darrin was a bit annoyed with the fox. However, when he heard those last few sentences and also noticed the sincerity on the animal’s face, he took a deep breath and exhaled. At least Elara was

Gradually, the white light not only radiated from Darrin's eyes but also enveloped his face, head, neck, and then his entire body. This light seemed to blanket him entirely.As Fenrisar observed, this was a process where Darrin's body was digesting all the inner energy he had gained from the necklace.It took a few minutes for Darrin's body to absorb all the inner energy, marked by the white light gradually fading. When this light completely subsided from his body and eyes, something strange happened again.When Darrin opened his eyes, he now saw an expanse of vast and barren desert in front of him. As far as his eyes could see, there was nothing but heaps of dry sand. This place was entirely unfamiliar to him as he had never seen, let alone visited, this place before.Then ahead, about ten meters away, something seemed to move from within the sand. Darrin kept watching it for a while until something red emerged from it. It was a symbol, rising into the air. A symbol of fire.The symb