Annoying as the woman was, she did deserve to be called by her name. If not for anything else, just for sharing the information about her clan. Though he had a nagging sensation that the Lotus clan wanted him to know that information. And they probably gained more information from him in return. Not to mention that he still did not know what their purpose in bringing him to Fortune Spring was.

  At first, he thought that they wanted to separate him from the rest of his teammates to bring down their casualties. After all, in most of their battles in the desert, he was the one who took down most of their numbers. But they did not seem to have any plans of besieging him in the Fortune Spring. And he had yet to receive any message from Yuri about them being ambushed. Or else, he would not have been chatting with the Purplebud woman so leisurely.

  It was almost as if they spent months of efforts, sacrificing tens to hundreds of their Wanderers, giving up countless benefits to manipulate other clans, and even risked breaking the rules of the Lost City, all just to let him experience the Red and Black, and reconcile his twin natures. That did not make any sense. Why would they spend so much time and effort, just to let him reap all the benefits?

  No, they surely had some other ulterior motives. Unfortunately, the Purplebud woman did not seem to know her clan’s purpose. Otherwise, given how talkative she was, she would have told him about it long ago. Maybe that was the reason why her clan did not tell her about their complete plan. Because they knew the side effects that she would suffer from experiencing the Fortune Spring… Was that the reason they brought him to the world of Red and Black? To let him reconcile his twin nature, and become just as unstable as her?

  …On second thought, that did seem like a reasonable plan. After all, had everything went according to their plan, then under the guidance of the Purplebud woman, he would have also chosen to reconcile his two sides. And once that happened, he would have had no choice but to turn to the Lotus clan to help him stabilise his Heart, or risk losing himself to his Aspects and Mysteries. Maybe, suffering from the Curse of his Fate every now and then was not so bad…

  Idiot. Was he trying to jinx himself? Then again, after what he just experienced, after killing the remaining consciousness of Alnea Oathkeeper of the world of Attuners with his own hands, would he still suffer from the Curse? Would he… What was he thinking about? And was there even any point in thinking about it? It would be best if he did not have to suffer from the Curse ever again. Though if the Curse did come back, he would just handle it like he always had. By kicking it in its face.

  Rather than worrying about what could or could not be, his time was better spent on more important things. Like considering how to deal with the woman drifting just metres away from him. Tried as he might, he could not bring himself to treat her as a typical enemy. At least not one he should kill. Not after she had helped him so much.

  Though, most likely, the only reason she had been so helpful and talkative was because of the defect in her Heart brought about reconciling her twin nature. Had she been normal, she would have probably treated him as just an enemy. Especially after he had killed so many Wanderers of her clan. It would not have been a surprise if she would have drawn her weapon against him the moment they met. Not to mention that she must have also had a part in orchestrating the Ritual that tore him away from his teammates.

  Regardless, he did owe her a few favours. Unless she made a move against him, he could not bring himself to point his sword at her. But he did not wish to talk with her either. Especially after he had called her by her name. She would never stop pointing it out. Annoying woman. Why did he let his impulse win? Did he not know that she was an enemy? Why treat her differently? Stupid. It was all his other self’s fault…

  Maintaining only the slightest hint of vigilance against the woman, treating her as just a stranger, Alnea shifted the rest of his attention to the strange fluctuations around him, and clung onto them with his Spirit. Just like how they had clung on to him back in the Final World. And unlike his first interaction with the Fortune Spring, this time, the fluctuations showed a different reaction. Though, any reaction they showed would have been a different reaction. But that did not matter.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  At the moment, the only thing that mattered was the Red and Black. Both, the one around him, and the one within him. One, constantly flipping, and the other, maintaining an eternal existence, reaching a perfect balance between the Red and Black. Balance, that was not permitted within the Fortune Spring. So, when the Spring noticed his peculiarity, it could only ask him to leave. And leave, he did, riding the same waves that had brought him to the Spring in the first place.

  From a seemingly infinite world, with no limits to any of its sides, he was pulled into a corridor that kept shrinking with Time. Or was it with Space? Did it even matter? Both were the same anyway. The only thing different was the direction he was being pulled in. Towards the infinity, that kept stretching the deeper he went. Or was he leaving the world’s depths, moving towards its surface?

  Alnea did not know. And he did not dare to guess. The things he was witnessing… they were far beyond the comprehension of a False Wanderer like him. Maybe even beyond True Wanderers. Though, it was not as if he could have understood anything even if he was a Mystic Wanderer. He did not have any affinity with the Mysteries of Space. So, unless the Mysteries opened all their secrets to him, he would never touch their boundaries.

  That, or he gained a fortuitous opportunity like his master. From the countless means at her disposal, it seemed like she had affinity with all the Mysteries of the Origin Sea. But that was not possible. Not even for Special Roots. At least not normally. Only a fortuitous encounter could explain her endless repertoire of Glyphs and Arcanas. Or maybe she was just born omnipotent. She was his master, after all. Anything was possible—

  A sudden jerk, and Alnea found himself being thrown out of the Red and Black corridor, landing right in the clearing he had been whisked away from. Just not at the same point. Maybe it was the momentum with which the strange fluctuations threw him, or maybe the Spring’s exit was at a different position from its entry, but when he came back to the Final World, Alnea did not land on the ground. Instead, he found himself diving into a mountain of rotten flesh and bones.

  “…Oronir’s stink!” Alnea cursed, blasting the remains of the Oren Beasts away from him, not caring about the consequences of using his Aspects. He had already activated the Ritual carved around him once. He could not activate it again, right? And the Lotus clan certainly could not have carved a second Ritual in the place. Probably. Even children knew that carving two Rituals on top of each other would destabilise both, and may even cause them to explode. They were not so stupid…

  Alnea restrained his Aspects, instead, using his sword to carve out a path out of the mountains of rotten flesh. Not because he was afraid of the Lotus clan. A couple of exploding Rituals were not enough to break through the defences of his robe anyway. He just did not wish to desecrate the dead Oren Beasts anymore than the Lotus clan already had. Not to mention that it would also alert the enemies lurking around him.

  Right, enemies. There were still hundreds of Wanderers of the Lotus clan and their allies somewhere in the forest, lurking to complete the rest of the plan of the Lotus clan’s Great Elder. It would be best if he hurried—

  “Finally,” Yuri said, just as Alnea tore himself out of the hills of rot and decay, stepping into the path of filth and blood, while the golden thorn on his robe worked their best to clean the grime off him. “Are you alright?”

  “…I am fine,” Alnea said, trying not to grimace, as he glanced down at himself. “Mostly.”

  “What happened?”

  “…I will tell you about it later. Is everything all right on your side?”

  “Everything is fine. Cecilia was a little agitated for a while, blaming herself for letting you fall into their trap. She even clamoured to go find the Lotus clan and force them to release you, but I calmed her down. Still, you know her. Had you delayed any longer, I might not have been able to keep her restrained.”

  “It looks like I was not too late then.”

  “…No, you were not,” Yuri said, allowing relief and joy to leak into her voice. “Welcome back, fool…”