The moment us and Hanna emerged from the shadows, Hanna quickly distanced herself from the two twins and stood beside us. She didn''t know them, so even though us''s demeanor showed he trusted them, she still felt uneasy.


    Especially after seeing them appear from a shadow without her even sensing them. Though she looked wary, she understood she did not have the means to challenge them and could only stand guardedly beside her little brother.


    "Rx, little girl. We don''t harm friends of us, our benefactor," Luna said, noticing Hanna''s apprehension.


    "She''s my sister," us corrected. "And I would appreciate it if you two could guard this ce from the shadows until we''re done," he added. He had already sent a telepathic message to Miriam, informing her they''d be runningte.


    He also told her to ensure no one came to the eastern part of the city. Miriam wanted to ask for more details, but he simply reassured her, saying they were not in any danger. Of course, he lied. He was about to defy the heavens, a very dangerous thing to do.


    Luna and Nuna melded into the shadows, leaving only us and Hanna behind.


    "Brother, what''s going on?" Hanna asked. "I can feel my lightning growing stronger, but it''s also unstable."


    "It''s both good and bad," us replied, making Hanna tense.


    "It''s good because you''re awakening your constitution, but very bad because you still haven''t formed your Sage core yet. This means you risk being crippled—or worse, dying."


    "What? But I don''t want to die!" Hanna cried out, her face pale. She''d finally achieved her long-nned revenge; dying now felt like a cruel twist. Before meeting us and his family, she would have died any day if it got her what she wanted.


    Now, she doesn''t want to die.


    "You won''t die. Are you forgetting something? I''m here with you. I got your back," us said with a reassuring smile. "Just sit down, rx, and don''t resist the awakening."


    Hanna nodded and settled into a lotus posture. us watched her for a moment and frowned.


    ''Is this because of me?'' He wondered


    He knew for a fact Hanna shouldn''t be awakening her constitution so soon. Normally, it would happen when she broke through to the Sage stage or, ideally when she became a Great Sage.


    So, having it awakened now, us couldn''t help but consider the only possibility—his presence in her life. As a paragon, the heavens naturally despised him.


    But then, if this was due to his presence in her life, wouldn''t that mean everyone close to him would suffer misfortune, even when it was supposed to bring fortune? us felt a sudden sense of foreboding.


    ''Senior,'' he called out to the old man.


    ''Rx. You just need to use your superior energy—Star Qi—to empower her body so she can withstand the awakening. Once that happens, you seal it and only unseal it when she bes a Sage,'' the senior replied, transmitting the method to us.


    At the same time, the sky darkened as clouds began to gather—a storm wasing. us sat behind Hanna and quickly formed a series of seals. At once, a diagram appeared beneath them. His hand seals shifted, and the diagram began to spin.


    As it did, us felt a connection forming between him and Hanna. Hanna, too, sensed the link, lightning shing across her eyes. Then her body started to grow stronger. The Star Qi has started empowering her body


    "Just hold on, sister. It''ll be over before you know it," us said, cing both palms on her back.


    "My, my, we meet again. Who would have thought?" us, who was channeling energy into Hanna, suddenly sensed another presence behind him. In an instant, he left the spot and reappeared atop a towering mountain that touched the clouds.


    Turning around, his gaze met that of Number Three. Silver-red hair, a perfectly chiseled face, an athletic build, neatly dressed, with a familiar but disturbingly dark set of red eyes.


    He was the same fe, his third incarnation that helped him during the ughter aura awakening process.


    "What am I doing here, Number Three? I don''t have time to waste. My sister''s life is in danger," us said, his face showing annoyance. For some reason, he couldn''t make sense of any of this.


    From what he knew, when a person died, they ceased to exist. So how on earth were his past selves still around? And even worse, they seemed to pop up at any time, always dragging him to strange ces.


    "Sister? So that''s how we''re referring to the Star Lights in this generation. How touching," Number Three said, casting us a wicked smile.


    "What are Star Lights?" us asked. He could tell the maniac in front of him was up to something, and he wanted to know. His gaze alone said it all.


    "Rx, us. Although you don''t remember now, this was all you''re doing. Naturally, I wouldn''t hide anything crucial from you," Number Three said.


    "Then spill it," us demanded.


    "Chill. First, tell me, when did you meet this Star Light? Or, more importantly, how?" Number Three asked.


    "Although I don''t know why you''re calling her Star Light, it would be best if you used her name, which, by the way, is Hanna, you bastard.


    As for how I met her, she approached me like a normal human would—unlike you lot, always intruding," us was disgusted with himself at this point.


    "Are you sure, though?" Number Three asked.


    "One hundred percent. She saw me and approached me while everyone else was too scared to do that," us recalled the day Hanna approached him in the Forbidden Zone, the Ruin City. He had just finished a massacre, leaving everyone terrified of him, too afraid toe near.


    But Hanna did.


    "Really? So you don''t mind if I show you what actually happened that day?" Number Three asked, and us stared nkly at him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Tsk, go ahead if that''ll speed things up."


    "Then pay attention carefully, Paragon," Number Three said, and with a wave of his hand, they were suddenly back in Ruin City, where us had just killed the Ground Drake Lizard King.


    Away from him, hundreds of warriors stood, watching him with their recording devices out.


    Among them was a young woman with a bow slung across her back. She was looking at us''s back, her eyes filled with pain, as though she was about to give up on life.


    Everyone around was terrified by the massacre they''d just witnessed, including the girl with the bow. Suddenly, a pair of golden eyes met hers, and then, like an immortal to a mortal, the most handsome face she had ever seen smiled at her.


    At that moment, all her resentment and despair washed away, reced by an overwhelming urge to approach him. Just for a moment, she found the courage to step forward.


    "Do you see it now? It wasn''t her who approached you; it was you who called out to her. You reached out, and she responded. You, my friend, stepped into her fate and severed whatever path was originally set for her, making her Fateless.


    "This, of course, is something you set in motion billions of years ago. So I don''t know what to tell you, bro, but you stole this youngdy from the heavens, and now they want to take her back. Well, they want her soul back.


    "So, the question is, are you ready to shove it in their faces like always, or sit like a coward and let them have their way?


    Oh, and if she dies, you won''t be able toplete what you set in motion years ago. So there''s that."


    Number Three ced a hand on us''s shoulder and said, "This is what you wanted, so don''t just stand there—we have a job to do."