Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

The morning before the contestants entered the venue for the second round of the exchange competition.

“Angelica Robert?”

A flippant voice rang out beside Angelia and Lucius.

The two turned around and saw that the other person was wearing the standard uniform of the mage tower, with the corners of his mouth turned up, and a pair of deep purple eyes were staring at Angelia thoughtfully.

"Henry Jones, representative of the Mage Tower team. I heard that the bloodline magic you awakened later is still very unstable, something like... dimensional shift? My mentor specifically asked me to supervise you—if your abilities get out of control, I will have the right to detain you directly in the Mage Tower."

The boy tapped the mage tower badge on his chest.

Some of the archmages in the Mage Tower will recruit students they find agreeable to teach. These students are extremely rare and will not attend any magic school. Instead, they will study directly under their mentors in the Mage Tower.

During each exchange competition, the Mage Tower would send young mages of suitable age from among these students to participate. This young man named Henry Jones was clearly a student of one of the archmages of the Mage Tower.

Even though the Ramirez family, St. Ferguson Academy, and the Mage Tower had reached an agreement regarding Angelia, there was disunity within the Mage Tower, especially among the archmages who each had their own "personality," some of whom held positions contrary to those of the Ramirez family.

Furthermore, the rule of "arrest if out of control" did not violate the agreement, so a certain high mage arranged for his students to deliberately cause them trouble.

Angelia raised an eyelid slightly at this, then walked past him indifferently.

Lucius lagged a step behind her, and as he passed Henry, he merely scoffed.

……

As everyone waited at the entrance of the stadium, they could see many relatives, friends, and teachers who had come to see the athletes off.

Today, Iris changed into a neat outfit: a pure white lantern-sleeved shirt and navy blue trousers. Her shoulder-length gray hair was braided and draped over her left shoulder in front of her chest. She wore special black combat boots, designed for convenience and efficiency.

She was looking down, stroking her staff. The ice-blue "Snowflakes" staff shone with a soft, crystalline luster in the sunlight, and Iris thought it was quite beautiful.

A commotion drew Iris's head from her engrossed examination of her staff. She first saw Ernest, draped in a black trench coat, walking through the passage, noticing his long hair was tied in a low ponytail. Then, her attention was immediately drawn to the person beside him—

That was Alex Ramirez, one of the two heads of the Ramirez family, Ernest's...father.

"This year, two junior members of the Ramirez family and a member of an affiliated family performed well in the exchange competition. It's normal for a family head to come and see them off when they enter, right... Is it normal?"

Iris overheard some players talking to each other.

"Uh... although other families don't seem to do this, Ernest is, after all, their chosen successor. Maybe they just want to show how much importance they place on their heir?"

"With so many family heirs this year, I haven't seen any family heads come. At most, a few elders will come."

"Why not look at Wilmington? They don't value the young lady enough, they only sent a few elders from their clan."

"Oh right... what is Ramirez doing?"

"Don't overthink it, it's probably just a deep bond between father and son..."

"You deserve a scolding for saying that. It's as if other people's families aren't affectionate."

The constant murmurs echoed in her ears, and Iris wasn't feeling well at the moment—ever since she saw Elex.

But she couldn't quite put her finger on what the problem was, so she stopped stroking her staff and kept looking at the patriarch.

Speaking of which, where is the other head of the family now?

Gracia Ramirez, who should have realized she had been deceived by her heir long ago, has remained silent since the first round of the competition ended.

Iris felt a chill run down her spine.

Perhaps they have already discussed it privately and will settle accounts after the exchange competition, or perhaps they have reached some new consensus?

It made sense logically, but for some reason, Iris felt increasingly strange.

She guessed that her keen sixth sense had uncovered some detail she had overlooked.

Her shoulder suddenly jolted as someone accidentally bumped into her while passing by. They apologized profusely, but Iris told them it was alright, and her attention, which had been drawn away by the Ramirez family, was finally drawn back.

In an instant, she noticed an unusual warmth in her collarbone.

She reached up and touched the peace lock necklace she was wearing. It was given to her by Ernest when they were stranded in the Lawrence Underground City. He said it was something left to her by her family.

Iris didn't find any surveillance cameras or traces of random magic on it. Seeing that the manufacturing method of the safety lock was indeed similar to that of Grimm, she kept wearing it.

Her father often made little trinkets for her and Enid when she was little, and she would never mistake his craftsmanship.

And the safety lock is now burning on her collarbone.

Ernest hadn't mentioned any magic on the safety lock, and she herself hadn't discovered any magical elements on it—until today.

But now it is unusually hot, and a magical aura emanating from the safety lock, which she has never encountered before, suddenly appears and exists at her collarbone.

And it just so happens now...

Suddenly, Iris had the illusion that her scalp was about to explode, but after she came to her senses, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find anything unusual.

Her expression gradually turned grim.

This is definitely not a good omen.

At this moment, Ellex whispered something to Ernest, then stopped and watched Ernest walk alone toward the entrance.

The start time for the second round of the competition is fast approaching, and the entrance to the Space Sphere is about to open.

The people around Iris gradually moved closer to the entrance, but she remained in place with an unusual expression.

So she immediately stood out in the crowd. Ernest saw her, first noticing her expression, and then recognizing her peace lock.

The peace lock necklace was given to her by Ellex through a request.

Alex...

He paused in his steps.

He didn't think that Alex was there today for some kind of father-son drama.

This busy patriarch, like the patriarchs of other families, had no reason to be here.

He wasn't there for any important business; he only asked Ernest about some trivial matters, such as recent events and family affairs, which Ernest didn't think were worth the trip.

"The entrance will open in ten seconds. Please proceed to the entrance and wait..."

The staff were already urging them on, so the two of them turned around and headed towards the entrance at the same time.

ten,

Nine,

eight,

seven……

Staff had set up a red barrier between the entrance waiting area and the family area. Iris could see out of the corner of her eye that Ellex was standing quietly on the other side of the red line.

Ernest, walking beside her, didn't speak, but his brow was furrowed.

six,

five,

Four……

Iris had just stopped by the entrance when she suddenly heard a commotion behind her.

She turned around abruptly, and the scene behind the red line instantly filled her wide, contracting pupils—

The crowd parted to create a passage, at the end of which appeared sometime earlier: Gracia Ramirez, standing behind Alexon.

As Iris and Ernest turned around almost simultaneously, Elex also turned around to face the commotion behind them. Thus, Iris was able to clearly see the moment when Gracia plunged the dagger into Elex's heart, who had just turned around and was caught off guard.

Those facing Ellex could see that the lord's body had been trembling incessantly since he saw Gracia. At that moment, he moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something to his longtime colleague and wife with whom he had sworn half a lifetime of love. But in the next instant, his lips were struck by a scorching fireball, and all his voice vanished in an instant.

One of the two patriarchs of the Ramirez family, under the watchful eyes of his partner, children, enemies, and many onlookers, had his lips set ablaze and turned to ashes in the blink of an eye amidst the eerie black flames.

A gentle breeze swept by, scattering the dust that had fallen to the ground in all directions.

Using the highest-grade and most lethal black flames of the Ramirez family, Gracia left no room for retreat.

Iris clutched the safety lock on her necklace tightly.

Before anyone could react, an arrow from the sky pierced the still-frozen space and struck Gracia Ramirez, who was standing still, directly in the heart.

Then, ominous black lines emerged from Gracia's pierced heart, rapidly elongating and wrapping around her body.

The patriarch, who had just killed her husband, swayed and threw out a transparent object before falling to the ground. She saw Ernest catch it before closing her eyes.

Forbidden magic!

……

One,

zero.

"I withdraw from the competition." A voice answered without hesitation for even a second.

The countdown ended, and the entrance opened on time. Iris walked towards the entrance, brushing past Ernest, who was walking in the opposite direction.

Standing just an arm's length from the entrance, she glanced back at the chaotic area beyond the isolation line. Ernest had already crossed the red line and was squatting on the ground examining Gracia's body. The forbidden magical aura emanating from the black line at the body's heart was so strong that even the contestants on this side could clearly sense it.

Lucius stood still, but Angelia grabbed his arm and pulled him directly into the arena.

Iris also turned and walked onto the field.

The show is about to begin.

*

"Huh..."

"All modules have been loaded."

"Dear participants, welcome to the Global Young Mage Exchange Competition. This is the venue for the second round of the competition – 'Fireside Chat: Thirteen Fragrances'."

"This tournament, like the previous one, is divided into two stages: the knockout stage and the bonus stage. Before the end of the knockout stage, the top 10,000 players in the standings will qualify for the next round. The top three players will automatically enter the next bonus stage. The specific rules for the bonus stage will be announced later."

"Number of participants in this round of the competition: 500,000."

"Wishing you a pleasant life."