If you looked closely, you could see a palace floating high above Fae'lor, almost level with the peaks of the clouds.
It looked as though the entire palace had been uprooted from the ground and lifted into the sky by an immense magical force. It hung thousands of feet above the earth, perfectly motionless without even the slightest sway.
That alone showed just how stable the magic supporting it was.
And only one person lived within this palace.
Inside a bedroom, the palace's mistress lay quietly upon a luxurious bed. Snow-white hair reaching her waist spilled loosely across the sheets. Her elegant and breathtakingly beautiful face carried a trace of icy allure, making her resemble a sleeping beauty.
The next second, her eyes suddenly opened, her violet pupils seeming to burst with dazzling light.
Syndra slowly sat up in bed.
She turned her head slightly and met her own reflection in a mirror, where she saw two faint trails of tears upon her cheeks.
"What a strange dream... and what a strange man."
She closed her eyes, and everything from the dream began resurfacing in her mind.
One man's face appeared again and again, so many times that forgetting him seemed impossible.
"Will you forget me?"
"Of course not."
"I won't forget you either."
And so, she truly couldn't forget him.
Syndra waved her hand, and the mirror that reflected her vulnerable side immediately turned around.
An indescribable sense of loneliness suddenly welled up from deep within her heart.
Syndra never would have imagined that simply going to sleep and waking up again could affect her this deeply.
For a moment, she felt strangely dazed and murmured to herself, "If only that girl's future had really turned out that way. Unfortunately... back then, he wasn't there."
Syndra rose from the bed, revealing the full, alluring curves of her mature figure. She wiped the traces of tears from her face, and her expression once again became as cold as frost.
She would simply treat it as a beautiful dream.
But a dream was ultimately only a dream.
It wasn't reality.
In reality, that girl had once fallen into the deepest depths of despair.
During the centuries Syndra had spent sealed away, that nightmare had tormented her endlessly. She had dreamed variations of the same nightmare again and again, experiencing the same despair over and over until her heart had long since become as cold and hard as stone.
Even Syndra couldn't understand why a nightmare that had repeated itself countless times had suddenly changed so drastically.
Nor could she understand how that man had managed to enter her dream in the first place.
"Interesting."
The corner of Syndra's mouth curled upward.
She looked out the window, a hint of coldness returning to her eyes.
"Even if it was only a dream, having someone interrupt it still pisses me off."
Even if it had been a dream, she hadn't wanted it to end so soon.
But it had been forced to end.
After changing into black mage robes, Syndra stepped outside the palace.
There was nothing beneath her feet. Frigid winds howled past the cloud peaks, and the ground was at least a thousand meters below.
Yet Syndra showed no fear whatsoever.
She calmly stepped into empty air.
The next instant, a fragment of stone flew over and stopped precisely beneath her descending foot.
Every time she took another step, the same thing happened.
She looked like a divine maiden descending from a stairway in the heavens.
At the same time, on the opposite shore...
Luke opened his eyes.
After seeing his surroundings, he confirmed that the dream had ended and he had returned to reality.
"That was one ridiculously long dream."
Luke yawned as he spoke.
It was already daylight.
He suspected it was no longer the same day they had landed on the island. Time clearly flowed differently inside the dream and in reality. He simply didn't know how much time had actually passed.
At first, he hadn't expected to be forcibly drawn into someone else's dream.
Thinking about it now, it was probably related to the demonic abilities inside him.
Not long after officially setting foot on the island, Luke suddenly sensed an enormous fluctuation of magical power.
His gaze immediately snapped toward its source.
There were two different magical forces.
"They're already about to start fighting."
Luke didn't waste any time thinking.
He immediately moved, rushing toward them at full speed.
Syndra descended from the sky.
Before long, she encountered someone approaching slowly from the opposite direction across the land.
The newcomer wore traditional Ionian robes. She was tall and beautiful, with the twin dragons of Ionia circling behind her head like a halo. Her entire body radiated a mysterious and immensely powerful aura.
Her expression was dignified and sacred, while her steps were calm and natural. Every movement she made carried a sense of serenity.
Syndra hovered atop several floating stones, magical power surging around her.
She looked down at the approaching woman and spoke coldly.
"Interrupting someone's pleasant dream isn't particularly polite."
The woman answered sincerely, "I apologize. That was not my intention."
Syndra gave a faint snort.
"You're awfully quick to apologize. If you understood how I'm feeling right now, you'd know this isn't something a simple apology can fix."
"You must be this generation's Enlightened One. What was your name again? Karma, right?"
"I'm actually in a pretty good mood right now, so get lost while you still can."
Thanks to a certain dream, Syndra truly was in an unusually good mood.
Otherwise, someone who had so obviously come looking for trouble would already have been attacked.
"I will leave," Karma replied, lifting her gaze toward Syndra. "But not yet. I know what happened to you..."
"Stop."
Syndra interrupted her immediately.
"You don't know, and you certainly don't understand."
Her eyes narrowed, and her aura abruptly shifted, losing what little restraint it had possessed.
"The consequences of making me angry are quite severe. And you should already know that I'm not particularly fond of either you or the thing protecting you."
Karma remained calm.
"The Spirit of Ionia guided me here. Therefore, I will not leave."
"Is that so?"
Syndra sneered.
"Looks like that thing couldn't keep me imprisoned itself, so it sent a lackey instead."
"Fine. Then let's have a proper fight. If you win, what does it matter if I spend another few centuries locked away?"
Immense dark magic erupted from her body.
Merely releasing her power caused violent winds to howl around them and even made the sky begin to change.
It was difficult to imagine just how powerful this darkness truly was.
"It seems this battle cannot be avoided."
Karma sighed softly.
She had mentally prepared herself before coming here. The person she needed to meet was unlikely to be reasonable.
After all, the Spirit of Ionia had imprisoned Syndra for six hundred years.
If Karma had been in her position, simply waking up without immediately going on a rampage would already have demonstrated remarkable restraint.
As soon as Karma finished speaking, a vast and sacred power suddenly surged from her body.
Brilliant blue-green light flooded the surroundings, flowing through heaven and earth like dragon spirits. Even before Syndra's immense darkness, it showed no sign of being inferior.
The Enlightened One was Ionia's guardian.
When necessary to protect this land, Karma would resort to force.
The atmosphere between the two women had already become dangerously tense.
An unimaginable battle could erupt at any moment.
Then a voice abruptly interrupted them.
"Ladies, stop. Whatever the problem is, can't we sit down and talk it out?"
Both women, already prepared to attack, froze at the same time.
Syndra looked toward the source of the voice.
Her body paused almost imperceptibly.
Something suddenly stirred within her icy heart.
She had assumed seeing him would cause no emotional reaction whatsoever.
She had overestimated herself.
Still, none of it showed on her face.
Instead, she raised an eyebrow and gave the approaching man a stunningly beautiful, icy smile.
"You're going to play peacemaker?"
"I seem to remember someone saying that if you get bullied, you should make sure to retaliate properly."
She had spent so many years imprisoned without even going looking for revenge.
Now the other side had come directly to her.
Surely even she couldn't be expected to tolerate that.
"I don't particularly want to stop you either," Luke replied innocently. "But if the two of you start fighting, the innocent bystanders are definitely going to get caught in the blast. As one of those innocent bystanders, I feel like I should at least fight for my own rights."
He looked at Syndra with mild amazement.
"Still, I blinked and suddenly you've grown this much."
The Syndra before him had completely matured.
She looked like the fully grown version of the girl from his dream, with almost perfectly proportioned curves and an imposing figure that radiated the bearing of a queen.
Of course, the greatest change wasn't her appearance.
It was her strength.
Syndra had always been a dark mage blessed with extraordinary talent. Long ago, the Spirit of Ionia had feared her enough to personally intervene and seal her away.
Yet during the hundreds of years she had spent imprisoned, her power had not stagnated.
Instead, it had continued growing.
That alone demonstrated how terrifyingly powerful she had become.
And she might not necessarily be the same Syndra Luke had come to know in the dream.
As for Karma, there was little need for explanation.
She was the Enlightened One chosen by the Spirit of Ionia and possessed similarly unfathomable power.
Luke hadn't been exaggerating.
If Syndra and Karma fought, he would inevitably get caught in it.
And not only him.
The city on the opposite side of the island would also be dragged into the destruction.
Luke's words caused Karma to calm down.
She withdrew the magical power she had released.
She had indeed failed to consider the consequences carefully enough.
Before arriving, Karma had believed her own power would be sufficient to suppress Syndra.
After seeing Syndra in person, however, she changed her mind.
Syndra's magic was simply too powerful.
Powerful enough to shock even Karma.
Even if Karma fought with everything she had, victory was by no means guaranteed.
Despite possessing tremendous strength, Karma had never been arrogant.
If anything, she possessed a very clear understanding of herself.
She knew perfectly well that she was not the strongest being in existence.
Still, Luke's sudden appearance puzzled her.
She hadn't sensed his presence at all.
And no matter how she looked at him, he seemed like an ordinary person.
Yet she could also sense Spirit's Blessing upon him.
"Don't act so familiar with me. Are we close?"
Syndra finally spoke again, her expression remaining cold and her attitude deliberately distant.
"You're just some guy who barged into my dream without permission. Don't assume that getting along with the girl in that dream means you and I are close."
That girl had indeed been her.
And yet, at the same time, she wasn't.
She was merely a lonely, weak, pitiful soul trapped inside a nightmare.
The Syndra of today was different.
She possessed power beyond anyone's reach.
She no longer needed to care what anyone thought of her.
She no longer needed to please anyone.
Nobody had ever rescued her.
What happened in the dream could simply remain a dream.
Yet after saying those words and seeing the flash of disappointment in that man's eyes, something suddenly stabbed at Syndra's heart like a needle.
A strange sadness rose inside her.
Had nobody truly rescued her?
Had he not pulled her free from that nightmare, a nightmare like an endless swamp she could never escape?
And had that beam of light shining down upon her really been fake?
"All right."
Luke was genuinely a little hurt by her words, but he understood Syndra perfectly well.
"Even if you say that, I'm still going to play peacemaker."
"If the two of you hear my proposal and still want to fight afterward, I promise I won't interfere."
In reality, he had never been there when Syndra needed someone most.
But if such an opportunity had truly existed, Luke believed he would absolutely have reached into that swamp and pulled the girl out.
Perhaps that was precisely why some things could only be called regrets.
The woman before him now was the aloof and icy Syndra.
What surprised Karma was that after Luke finished speaking, Syndra unexpectedly calmed down.
She withdrew her dark magic and said indifferently, "Fine. I suppose I'll hear what you have to say."
Karma gave Luke another glance, curiosity flashing through her eyes.
Having spoken with Syndra, she already understood that this woman had an explosive temper.
She was like a powder keg ready to detonate from the slightest spark.
Yet in front of this man, she had somehow managed to restrain herself and was even willing to listen to his attempt at mediation.
Karma glanced at Syndra again.
Somehow, what Syndra was doing now didn't exactly match the attitude she had just claimed to have.
In any case, the three soon found themselves seated around a table.
Syndra and Karma sat on opposite sides, with Luke between them.
Karma sat with dignified composure, perfectly at ease.
Syndra, meanwhile, wore an icy expression and crossed her legs like a queen. Her long, shapely legs rested against one another, full and striking.
Luke sat between them and leisurely took a sip of tea.
The sound of him drinking was so conspicuous that Syndra shot him an icy glare.
"Hurry up."
"All right."
Luke set down his teacup and calmly looked toward Karma.
"First, tell us why you came. Starting a fight without even explaining anything is stupid. What if this is all a misunderstanding?"
"There is no misunderstanding."
Syndra gave a confident sneer.
"I was locked underground for hundreds of years. Obviously I'm not simply going to swallow that resentment. Since she came looking for me herself, I'm definitely going to take some of it out on her."
"You see?" Luke turned toward Karma. "That's how she feels. If it were me, I'd be pissed too. Anything you want to say?"
"Every part of the First Lands exists under the protection of the Spirit of Ionia," Karma explained calmly. "Six hundred years ago, your dark magic erupted into the heavens and nearly destroyed everything on Fae'lor. Naturally, the Spirit of Ionia regarded you as a threat."
Within Karma rested the memories of Enlightened Ones from six hundred years ago.
She herself had witnessed Fae'lor as it was then through those memories.
Even she had been horrified by what she saw.
"Is that so?"
Syndra sneered.
"Why don't you bother asking why I was angry in the first place? Suppressing someone simply because you're afraid of them. What a ridiculous excuse."
"I do not know exactly what happened to you back then," Karma replied, looking at Syndra with the same calm expression. "But your magic draws power from everything around you, including the land, the trees, and every living thing. If you refuse to restrain that consumption, then your very existence poses a threat to the Spirit of Ionia."
"That is why I came."
Syndra stopped paying attention to her and turned toward Luke instead.
"Heard that? They're all stubborn idiots. You're not going to change the archaic nonsense in their heads."
"I say we just beat them until they understand."
"Calm down for a second."
Luke glanced at her before looking back at Karma.
"So you didn't actually come here looking for a fight, right?"
In truth, Karma wasn't wrong.
She hadn't known what happened all those years ago.
Even if she had, all she could really do was sympathize.
The larger problem came from the nature of Syndra's dark magic.
Her magic functioned differently from that of ordinary mages.
Other mages absorbed magical energy naturally generated throughout the world.
Syndra, however, drew power directly from everything around her.
The ghost-willow was one example.
The first time Syndra lost control, she drained every last trace of its power on the spot.
During her second eruption, she directly drew upon the power of the entire island of Fae'lor, finally forcing the Spirit of Ionia to intervene personally.
Because in Ionia, everything around them, every flower, tree, and stone, was part of the Spirit of Ionia itself.
Therefore, Syndra genuinely represented a threat to it.
There was no getting around that fact.
"If battle becomes unavoidable, then yes, I will fight," Karma replied with a nod. "But I did not come here intending to start one."
Syndra snorted and said nothing.
If this man hadn't been sitting beside her, she would already have attacked.
Why bother being polite?
Luke asked, "Then what did you actually come here to do?"
"To determine something."
Karma raised her eyes and looked directly at Syndra.
"I came to determine whether her existence poses a threat to Ionia."
"If it does, then battle will be unavoidable."
"If it does not, then naturally there is no reason for us to fight."
Luke nodded.
"And what have you determined so far?"
"At present, I believe she does pose a threat," Karma replied.
"Heh."
Syndra sneered.
Her magic erupted again, her temper instantly flaring.
"Then fight me. Why are we still wasting time talking?"
"Calm down again. I'm here."
Luke looked toward her.
His voice was soft, almost as though he were speaking to the girl from the dream.
"Don't try that on me. She already called me a threat, so I might as well show her what a real threat looks like."
Syndra snorted again.
Yet despite her words, she withdrew her magic instead of attacking.
And somewhere inside her heart, those simple words, I'm here, sent a faint ripple through still waters.
Karma became even more certain that there was something unusual about the relationship between these two.
It was strange.
Aside from being handsome, this man appeared ordinary in practically every respect.
Yet somehow, he could repeatedly calm Syndra down.
Karma had clearly sensed Syndra's desire to attack several times already.
She was certain that without Luke here, their battle would have begun long ago.
Karma had no idea what the outcome would be.
But in truth, she didn't want to fight either.
No matter what happened, once battle began, she herself would become responsible for harming this land and its people.
She had never intended to hurt anything.
Including Syndra.
"So if I can convince you that she won't pose a threat to Ionia, you'll back down?"
Luke looked at Karma, his eyes clear and straightforward.
Karma could sense his calm confidence.
She nodded.
"That would be accurate."
She cared only about the result.
If the result proved that Syndra posed no threat, then Karma truly had no reason to act against her.
"Then that's easy."
Luke smiled as though he had just made a decision.
"If she does something beneficial for Ionia, that should help change your opinion of her, right?"
Before Karma could respond, Syndra slapped the table and glared at Luke with an irritated raised eyebrow.
"Hey. Could you stop making decisions for me without asking?"
"Trust me. You'll want to do this too."
Luke looked toward Syndra reassuringly.
That caught her interest.
The corner of Syndra's mouth curled upward.
"Oh? Then let's hear it."
"Do you remember that ghost-willow?"
Luke asked.
"Of course I remember."
There were only two things Syndra knew she would never forget.
One was the ghost-willow.
The other...
She looked at Luke.
Then she said indifferently, "In fact, I transplanted it here a month ago."
"That makes things easier."
Luke smiled.
The brilliance of that smile was enough to make even Syndra momentarily lose focus.
"What if I told you... I could bring it back to life?"
"What?"
Syndra froze.
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