In the hotel, Ashe opened his eyes, feeling a chill down his back and an icy sensation on his arm—the dampness of the underground floor was indeed heavy.
Wait, how did I end up on the floor?
Ashe sat up and saw Lise, dressed in a seal-print robe, sprawled out in a starfish shape, occupying the entire single bed. Clearly, he had been kicked off.
Looking at her little feet tugging at the blanket, Ashe could almost picture how he had been slowly pushed out of bed by this little seal.
He gently covered her with the blanket, sat down on a nearby chair, and without turning on the light, summoned the “Secret Toxin Diary” and began documenting the night’s events and discoveries from the back—while the front contained adventures recorded chronologically, the back was for immediately noteworthy life events. The sorcerer who had found his diary copy seemed to enjoy reading it, and its readership was steadily growing.
Although it was a diary meant for himself alone, Ashe wrote in great detail. His writing skills might be lacking, but his attitude was certainly serious.
“...Spiral flames pierced the sky like a spear, scattering the entire area’s Reverse Golden Rain. Under the glow of the flames, the ground quickly sprouted giant vines and trees. Even though we were already far away, our Sports car was flipped over, and we were all thrown out by the inertia. I used my sword body barrier to protect the Witch and could only hold onto the Sword Princess while rolling...”
“This is likely the Divine Intervention controlled by the Oasis, different from the spatial transfer of the spiderweb. Its regular effect seems to target the main city. And then, something happened that I may never, or at least rarely, see again in my life—the entire main city was plummeting towards the ground, and we were right beneath it. It’s worth mentioning that the Sword Princess, in fear, curled up and sang softly in my ear. I can tease her about this in the future.”
“Of course, the main city didn’t crash directly, or they would have been pulverized as well. The main city eventually hovered tens of meters above ground, and when we looked up, we could see this astonishing inverted city, filled with shining orange sunflowers; the Garden was aptly named. The entire main city blended so well with the hue of the Reverse Golden Rain that it was completely invisible from the ground...”
“Unlike other main cities, perhaps as a price for existing in the sky, the Garden main city doesn’t possess defensive capabilities. A joint salvo from the Spider Tower and Oasis took out a tenth of the flowers in one strike. The flowers are clearly a crucial resource for the Garden main city, and the battlefield initiative thus shifted to the invaders. The Garden legion had to descend to the ground to battle Spider Tower and Oasis... This makes sense, actually. If the Garden could both float and defend itself, other legions would have to fly up to invade it, giving Garden far too great an advantage, almost making it unbeatable.”
“Although this world doesn’t have a balance mechanism, the Divine Sovereign isn’t above flipping the table. If you’re not fair, he will ensure fairness.”
“Thanks to the chaos, we managed to snatch three commander handbooks, four soul summoning spirits, and maps of both the Garden and the Spider Tower, allowing us to retreat smoothly before the Refracting Wall shattered. The soul summoning spirits were three from Garden and one from Spider Tower. My soul summoning spirit activated both orange and purple, and my special troop type, Tri-tone Anchor, advanced to Five-tone Anchor... It’s a pity we didn’t get the Oasis map. I’m still two maps short of lighting up the entire Time Continent.”
“We each get one commander handbook. Actually, I wanted to give two to the Sword Princess and one to the Witch, since I’m pretty laid-back about Sect Realm improvements. But I worry the Witch might feel it’s unfair. Maybe she wouldn’t care, but I do. It’s like raising two daughters; you have to constantly ensure the scales are balanced... Though at least they won’t kick me out of the car.”
“Thinking back, I feel like I said some very embarrassing things to the Sword Princess tonight. But I won’t write that down; you probably wouldn’t be interested anyway.”
Closing the Secret Toxin Diary, Ashe fell into deep thought.
There was one thing he hadn’t written in the diary: on the battlefield, they had taken down a Spider Tower commander. To pull this off, both the Sword Princess and the Witch had geared up with the Sixth-level Troop Type “Starburst Warrior.” Under the effect of the ‘Mysterious Power’ from the Secret Incarnation, they were perceived as neutral units by Spider Tower and managed to sneak up on and ambush the commander.
Otherwise, given the overwhelming assault on Garden by both Spider Tower and Oasis, there was no way a Spider Tower commander could have died unless the Garden used a Divine Intervention.
Ashe and his team took such a risky venture to unlock the second power of the Secret Incarnation. There was no better opportunity for an assassination than on a battlefield. Fortunately, Ashe temporarily upgraded the Refracting Wall to Level 11; otherwise, they wouldn’t have made it out alive.
But the power they unlocked after all that effort was somewhat... delicate:
“Secrecy Power: You keep your lips sealed; no one can know the secrets deepest in your heart, but secrets also guard your soul. You can’t reveal your most valued secrets, and the more you want to confide, the stronger the confidentiality effect becomes.”
“Secrecy (Confide Degree 13%): Your mental resistance increases by 13%, and your soul’s adaptability to deities of similar sects increases by 13%.”
Ashe immediately recalled the intelligence they had received from the Mermaid. Harvey’s future ability to control deities hinged on obtaining a related Conceptual Incarnation on the Time Continent, allowing him to house a deity.
“Then I won’t sleep either,” Lise said as she came over and sat on the chair next to him.
“Little kids who don’t get enough sleep won’t grow up properly!”
“I’m not scared!”
“Speaking of which, something just crossed my mind,” Ashe said. “After the Weaving Festival ends, can you go back to being a princess?”
“Huh?”
“Regardless of whether our mission succeeds or fails, you won’t have a reason to stay out here. Plus, you’re the last bloodline of the Yisuo Royal Family. They wouldn’t let you roam around as a commoner, right? Wouldn’t you go back to the Royal Palace and continue being a princess?”
In the darkness, Lise widened her eyes and stared at Ashe. “Dad, are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, not at all—”
“Then why are you asking this! You said we would live together after the Weaving Festival!”
“Here’s the problem,” Ashe explained. “Where would we live?”
“Eh?” Lise was stumped; to her, this question was a bit complex.
“After leaving the Funeral, I don’t have any connections, real estate, or even a job. It feels like our quality of life is going to take a nosedive. And ‘Princess of Yisuo’ sounds way more impressive than ‘Ashe’s daughter’—”
“Who says so! The latter is way more super-duper awesome!”
“Well, it’s a bit troublesome then,” Ashe scratched his head. “If it were just me, I wouldn’t mind sleeping under a bridge in a cardboard box, but with you, I’d have to put in some effort. For a happy life, I have roughly three proposals—”
“First, I sell my charm and beg Annan to take care of us.”
Lise swung her legs and looked down, “I don’t want a stepmom right now...”
“Second, we beg Igor to sell his charm and let Belldate take care of us.”
“That sounds good,” Lise said, “but Aunt Bukin never seems to be willing.”
“Then we can only go with the third plan,” Ashe said. “Let the Substitute go out to work and earn money.”
“But the Substitute can’t earn much, right?” Lise thought for a moment, “But whatever, as long as I’m with you, Dad, Lise doesn’t mind being a little poor—”
“No way! No matter how tough things get, they shouldn’t be tough on the kids. For your happiness, I’ll do my best!” Ashe declared firmly.