It felt so good to be close to the witch!

At this moment, the Ice Witch Ais, who was sitting on the bed, spoke.

Upon hearing this, Roy quickly began to make plans in his mind.

It's around 1 a.m. now, and there are still 47 hours until the Feast Festival. In one day, that means that by 1 a.m. on the day before the Feast Festival, Ais will be able to absorb all the natural magic power accumulated in her body. Then, with Shanica using her talent, she will be able to quickly recover to her full strength.

However, will the machinations from the Second Prince's side be revealed during this day?

With the Ice Witch injured and unable to fight, can Blackrock Territory's current fighting force withstand the attack?

Roy was unsure, but there was no other way at the moment, so he could only urge the Ice Witch Ais to absorb the natural magic as quickly as possible.

Watching Ais close her eyes and begin absorbing the natural magic within her body, her body radiating a deep blue light, Roy took a deep breath, turned around, and walked out of the hidden place.

During the day that the Ice Witch Ais recovers, he must also do his best to prepare for dealing with the Second Prince's "black hand".

After Roy left, Shanica sat down on a chair nearby.

She looked at Ais with her eyes closed, a hint of envy flashing deep in her eyes.

Grand rank... that's a realm countless witches dream of, and she was no exception.

If I also possessed the strength of a Grand Master, wouldn't I be able to provide even better assistance to the young master...? After helping the young master, it would be only natural to ask for some "small, normal" reward...

Looking at the candlelight burning quietly in front of her, Shanika's eyes glistened, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

……

At one o'clock in the morning, all was quiet, and the crimson moon hung high, scattering its light across the earth.

At the border between Blackstone Territory and Greenfield Territory, under the pale red moonlight, a figure riding a tall warhorse appeared.

He wore an exceptionally ornate and exquisite light gold armor, with a greatsword almost as tall as himself on his back. His warhorse was also extraordinary, with a single horn on its head and crimson fur on its four hooves, resembling raging fire. It was a hybrid horse with the blood of a magical beast.

The wild horses galloped wildly, like moving hellfire under the moonlight.

But just as the knight was about to step into the territory of Blackrock Territory, he suddenly reined in his horse and stopped.

From extreme motion to extreme stillness, aided by the golden battle aura emanating from the knight, the hybrid warhorse effortlessly accomplished this seemingly impossible feat.

The warhorse, which had stopped galloping, exhaled hot air from its nostrils and stomped the ground with a slightly agitated gait. Its knightly aura was cold and imposing as it looked to the side at a large tree not far away.

The night wind rustled the leaves, and in the hazy moonlight, a burly figure could be vaguely seen in the shadows beneath the tree.

"By order of His Excellency the Duke, no Gold-rank knight is permitted to enter Blackrock Territory during this period."

"Anyone who dares to disobey shall be killed!"

A burly figure slowly emerged from under the tree, and with each step, the ground trembled slightly, like a moving mountain range.

He wore crimson armor riddled with slashes, wielded a terrifying warhammer, and wisps of blood rose from his body.

That's the kind of murderous aura that only knights who have fought countless battles on the battlefield possess.

"Bloody Fortress, Robert Seville".

The half-blooded warhorse, clad in pale gold armor, looked rather grim: "The vice-commander of the Crimson Knights, a Gold Two-Star Knight, has actually condescended to this remote place."

In response to the words of the pale gold-armored knight, Blood Fortress Robert replied with only a few simple words: "Leave, or die."

A book by Py, *Umbrella Corporation*

Recommendation: This book is close to achieving the status of a top-quality book; you can tell what it's about just by looking at the title.

Chapter 62 Candidates

The "Golden Battle" that took place at the border between Blackstone Territory and Greenfield Territory was surprisingly quiet, without any explosive roars or dazzling battle aura. Under Scarlet Moon's watchful gaze, the outcome was quickly decided.

The pale gold-armored knights from the capital fled wounded, while Robert, the vice-commander of the Crimson Knights, a two-star gold knight, and the Bloodstained Fortress, stood silently at the border of Blackstone Territory, leaning on his spiked hammer.

However, neither the pale gold-armored knight nor Blood Fortress Robert noticed that hundreds of meters away from where the two were fighting, in the shadow of the tree canopy, a slender figure had seen everything.

The night breeze rustled through the leaves, and when the wind subsided, the figure in the canopy had vanished as if it had never existed.

……

Blackstone Territory, the lord's residence.

Roy emerged from the hidden place and went to his room. He looked at the crystal box containing high-purity magic crystals in his hand and fell into deep thought.

During this crucial period as the Ice Witch Ais recovers from her injuries, in order to deal with the potential "dark forces" from the Second Prince's side, he must do his best to enhance the combat power of his own side, including his own strength.

From the moment he first encountered the breathing technique until now, only a week has passed, and Roy has gone from a complete novice to a Bronze Two-Star Knight. Although he "seriously lacks combat experience," a Bronze Two-Star is still a Bronze Two-Star. Such terrifying progress would surely shock anyone who knew.

But for Roy, a mere Bronze II star was utterly useless against someone like the Second Prince.

His personal strength was utterly insignificant compared to the power of the Radiant Empire's upper echelons.

However, he was not entirely useless.

The [Original Sin Cube] bestowed upon him the talent [Infinite Desire], allowing him to absorb the corruption within witches and use it for his own breathing techniques. However, for him now, this talent's greater purpose is to gather witches around him, forming a powerful force.

Just one talent has brought him such tremendous help; what if he could acquire a second talent?

This is not an unattainable goal.

Currently, the energy reserve of the [Original Sin Cube] has reached 48%, of which 8% is Chaos, 24% is Lust, and 16% is Gluttony.

After the Ice Witch used the high-purity magic crystal in Roy's possession, there were still about 20 strands remaining. As long as he absorbed these 20 strands of natural magic, he could use the high-purity magic crystal to absorb the corruption from the witch.

The maximum is approximately 100 high-purity magic crystals, enough for him to absorb all the pollution from any witch around him, thereby obtaining the [Original Sin Pollution Branch Aggregate] from her.

After a brief moment of thought, Roy quickly decided on his choice—the Shadow Witch, Lilia.

The reason he chose Lilia was not only because Lilia had made a three-year "promise" with him, but also because Lilia's total magic power was the strongest besides that of the Ice Witch Ais, which was around 60.

Based on the experience with Shanica last time, the energy reserve progress brought by the [Original Sin Contamination Branch Aggregate] is related to the witch's own magic limit and the degree of contamination.

Shanica's total magic power is around 40, and her level of corruption is roughly 98% to 99%. Therefore, absorbing the [original sin corruption branch aggregate] from her body will result in an energy reserve progress of 40%.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the total magical power of the Shadow Witch Lilia is approximately 60 strands, with a pollution level of around 90%. In other words, the energy reserve progress that her [Original Sin Pollution Branch Aggregate] can provide is 54%, which is enough for Roy to push the energy reserve progress of the [Original Sin Cube] to 100% in one fell swoop and obtain his second talent!

Although he didn't know what the second talent would be, Roy believed that the talent derived from the [Original Sin Cube] would not disappoint him!

The Shadow Witch Lilia, who absorbed the remaining natural magic power of the high-purity magic crystal, will not only have her total magic power greatly increased, but also, due to the complete removal of pollution, will be able to use her shadow talent without any worries, thus unleashing even greater combat power.

It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Just as Roy was thinking of the Shadow Witch Lilia, Lilia's body emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room.

"Lord Roy, something's happened!"

As soon as she appeared, the Shadow Witch Lilia said somewhat anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Roy frowned, but his voice remained calm: "What happened?"

He sensed something unusual in Lilia's tone.

Lilia let out a soft breath, and influenced by Roy's calm demeanor, she quickly regained her composure: "Just now, at the border between Blackstone Territory and Greenfield Territory, a golden knight wearing light gold armor arrived."

"The Golden Knight?!" Roy's pupils contracted.

Trainee, Formal, Bronze, Silver, Gold.

Gold is the fifth rank of knight, and its power is far beyond that of silver knights.

With the Ice Witch now unable to act after recovering her body, the Golden Knight is an enemy that Blackrock Territory absolutely cannot withstand!

But after a brief moment of shock, Roy calmed down.

The fact that the Shadow Witch Lilia remained calm despite her surprise made him realize that there might be more to come.

He calmed himself down and continued to listen to Lilia's story.

"But just as the pale gold-armored knight was about to step into Blackstone Territory, a knight in crimson armor emerged from under a large tree at the junction of Blackstone Territory and Green Territory."

The pale gold-armored knight addressed the crimson-armored knight as Robert, the vice-commander of the Crimson Knights, a two-star gold-ranked knight.

"The battle between the two ended quickly, with the red-armored knight emerging victorious and the pale-gold-armored knight wounded and forced to retreat."

...Robert, Vice Commander of the Crimson Knights, Gold Two-Star, Bloodstained Fortress.

The defeat of the pale gold-armored knight relieved Roy, but his gaze immediately hardened.

Roy was no stranger to the name "Red Knights." Just a few days ago, he had met with Knight Ayman, the captain of the sixth squad of the Red Knights.

The Crimson Knights are the most elite knight order under the Border Duke. Its vice-commander, Robert, a powerful two-star gold knight known as the "Bloody Fortress," was stationed at the border of Blackstone Territory without Roy's knowledge and intercepted a strange gold knight from the north...

Robert the Blood Fortress will appear on the border between Blackrock Territory and Greenfield Territory, undoubtedly on the orders of the Border Duke.

In other words, the border duke already knew that the second prince's goal was Star Lake, and that he would send experts to seize it by force.

Chapter 63 The Awkwardness in the Room

The originally clear situation suddenly became somewhat unpredictable again.

Roy's expression was cold and aloof, and the cool night breeze blowing in from the window made his hair flutter slightly.

The fact that the Border Duke sent the vice-commander of the Crimson Knights to the Blackstone Territory border to intercept the Second Prince shows that the Border Duke was probably aware that the Second Prince's goal was Star Lake, and that he even knew exactly what was beneath Star Lake.

However, the Border Duke did not reveal any of this to Roy, the Lord of Blackrock.

No, it wouldn't be accurate to say that nothing was revealed at all.

The Duke's letter warned him not to venture deep into Star Lake during the "Festival of Abundance," for beneath Star Lake lurked a danger that could even kill a Golden Knight.

At the time, Roy simply thought it was a reminder from the border duke, but now he realizes it was actually a warning from the border duke.

The implication is that the Second Prince's intention is Star Lake. As the lord of Blackstone Territory, Roy, on the day of the Bountiful Harvest Festival, you should do what you normally do, stay away from Star Lake, and especially not try to venture into it. Don't concern yourself with anything that happens at Star Lake; everything will calm down after the Bountiful Harvest Festival.

Only now did Roy suddenly wake up.

As a member of the empire's highest echelons, the Second Prince didn't even consider a mere lord of Blackstone Territory a threat. His only goal, from beginning to end, was Star Lake in Blackstone Territory, and his only opponent was the Border Duke.

Initially, the Second Prince instructed Lord Denham to seize Blackrock Territory through a "territory consolidation battle," aiming to gain control of Blackrock Territory before the Border Dukes became aware of it.

After the territory changed hands, according to the sacred imperial law, even the border duke, as a duke, could not forcibly interfere. In this way, no matter what the second prince wanted to do to Star Lake, the border duke had no right to intervene.

However, the failure of the "territory consolidation battle" made the Border Duke realize the Second Prince's intentions. Roy didn't know if the Second Prince and the Border Duke had communicated behind his back, but the battle taking place at the border between Blackstone Territory and Greenfield Territory undoubtedly showed that the two of them had finally headed towards a "struggle".

Both the Second Prince of the Empire and the Border Duke are behemoths that Blackstone Territory cannot resist at present. In their eyes, Roy is just an insignificant little man.

The feelings of ordinary people are something no one cares about.

Just as the Second Prince did not consider the miserable fate that Roy would suffer if he lost his territory when he assigned Lord Denham to seize Blackrock.