To Tang San, Ah-Long was just an ordinary child armed only with a handsome face, yet for some reason, he was so adored and liked by all the villagers. In Tang San's eyes, Ah-Long's excessive kindness looked incredibly stupid—a hypocrisy that felt deeply disgusting.
Right now, Tang San was sitting cross-legged behind the lush trees of the dense forest. From behind the shadows, his eyes stared sharply at a group of village children who were running around in the open field not far from the forest border.
In the midst of that crowd, Ah-Long was seen playing and laughing freely with them.
That sight, which radiated pure happiness, created a very sharp contrast with himself. Ah-Long stood in the middle of the field bathed in warm sunlight, surrounded by laughter and acceptance. Meanwhile, Tang San huddled alone in the cold darkness of the forest, isolated and shunned.
To Tang San, such a striking difference really disturbed his mind.
With a special technique he had stolen from his sect, Tang San hid his presence perfectly like an experienced assassin. His gaze never left to monitor Ah-Long's movements for even a second.
However, the impossible suddenly happened. Ah-Long abruptly stopped his laughter and turned his head—staring straight through the darkness of the forest, right toward Tang San's hiding spot.
The golden-haired boy smiled broadly.
Tang San gasped in shock, his breath catching for a moment. His heart beat faster. "How could he notice my presence?!" he thought in surprise.
Before Tang San could digest the situation, he saw Ah-Long stepping closer toward the forest border while waving his hand high.
"Tang San! You're over there, right?" Ah-Long called out in a cheerful and friendly tone, as if there was not the slightest distance between them. "Do you want to come play with us?!"
Tang San furrowed his brow deeply, his hand reflexively clutching his chest. "This feeling again," he muttered faintly, his breathing starting to turn ragged.
His heart beat erratically. He felt a strange, strong pull from within him—something inside him churned violently, as if struggling to tear his chest open and jump out to merge with Ah-Long. This painful reaction that threatened his sanity always appeared every time he was too close to the golden-haired boy.
Unable to endure that discomfort any longer, Tang San hurriedly stood up. He turned his body around and immediately dashed away into the shadows of the forest.
Seeing Tang San's silhouette suddenly moving away, Ah-Long hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, calling out to him, "Tang San! If you have free time tomorrow, come to the village square! There is something important I want to announce!"
Tang San did not look back at all, let alone reply to his shout. His figure quickly disappeared, swallowed by the lush trees.
Ah-Long—or Arthur—could only lower his waving hand with a confused sigh. "It happened again... he always runs away every time I try to approach him. What is actually happening to him?" Arthur muttered softly.
His daydream was shattered when he heard the sound of small footsteps approaching from behind.
"Brother Ah-Long, what are you doing here?" asked a gentle girl's voice.
Arthur turned his head and found Su Zhi standing and looking at him. His warm smile bloomed again. "It's nothing. Let's go back now, Su Zhi," he invited kindly.
Su Zhi nodded obediently and began to walk, following Arthur's steps.
However, without them knowing, deep in the darkness of the forest where Arthur had shouted earlier, a pair of eyes emitted a cold purple luminescence.
From a distance, Tang San, who was currently activating his special eye ability, glared sharply at Arthur's back. His gaze no longer radiated the innocence of a child, but rather a very thick vigilance and murderous aura.
"That kid is very annoying. He is too noisy, and somehow, he has an unreasonably sharp instinct," Tang San muttered with an ice-cold tone. His hands secretly clenched tight. "If left alone, he will most likely become a threat in the future... Should I just kill him now, so he doesn't interfere with my training?"
(Transition)
That night, after the Avalon School opening ceremony finished.
In the simple hut where Su Ying and Su Zhi lived—two girls who had now fully realized their true identities as Medea and Psyche—the wooden door creaked softly as the two sisters stepped into the dimly lit room.
Medea immediately walked toward the bed and sat on its edge. Her gaze was sharp yet blank, her mind already wandering far, formulating various intrigues and grand plans for the future.
Meanwhile, Psyche stood stiffly not far from her. She stared at Medea with thick lines of anxiety on her face.
"Medea... are you really going to carry out that plan of yours?" Psyche asked, breaking the silence, her voice sounding hesitant and full of worry.
Medea glanced at her briefly from the corner of her eye. "Then what else, Psyche? It will be very useless if we just let Arthur spend the rest of his life as a commoner in this village in the middle of nowhere."
Medea clenched her hands tightly, her eyes flashing with ambition. "In this new world, I have everything. Opportunities, time, resources, and enormous potential power. With all of that in my hands, I will make sure Arthur Pendragon ascends the throne once again. And this time, he will not only be a King... but an Emperor!"
Hearing that explosive ambition, Psyche stepped forward. She clutched her own chest in pain.
"But Brother Arthur is already tired!" Psyche argued with a trembling voice. "He doesn't want to be a ruler anymore! The two of us have seen the whole truth about his past for ourselves through Merlin's illusion, right?! He has already made peace with his dream and all of his guilt!"
Psyche's eyes began to tear up looking at her sister. "How could you intend to force Brother to bear such a heavy and bloody destiny again?!"
Medea stood up, glaring sharply at her sister. "Psyche, listen," she said in a cold and firm tone. "Have you forgotten the basic law of life? Even though we are in a different world now, the rules remain the same: the strong will prey on the weak. In fact, in this world, that cruelty is much more real!"
Medea snorted cynically, a flash of hatred radiating in her eyes as she imagined the hierarchical order. "Those cultivators and Spirit Masters... they will only bow and be loyal if we have absolute power. They will willingly crawl and lick the soles of our feet, exactly like the rotten nobles in our original world. It's just that the law of the jungle here is far more extreme."
The purple-haired girl stepped slowly, her eyes radiating an unshakable dark resolve.
"And Arthur... Arthur is the most perfect foundation to become our shelter. He has everything: sincere kindness, extraordinarily immense power, the undeniable charisma of a conqueror, and the true intelligence of a King."
"However, therein lies the single fatal weakness he possesses," Medea continued, her voice lowering into a deadly sharp whisper. "He does not have a dark side like ordinary humans. He is too perfect. Too pure for this bloodstained world."
Medea turned back to look at Psyche, her gaze now radiating a mix of cruelty and desire.
"So because of that... I am the one who will take on that role. I will be his shadow. It is my hands that will be dirtied by blood to wipe out anything that dares to threaten the peace of the place for the three of us."
Psyche was just about to open her mouth to argue, but Medea immediately interrupted. Medea took a step forward and gripped both of Psyche's shoulders with violently trembling hands; she too was plagued by deep fear.
"Only with him can we be safe, Psyche! Only with him!" Medea exclaimed with a suppressed voice. "Never forget what we went through in the Vasilios Empire back then. You lived in a golden cage, with Eros's eyes and ears watching you every second. You were shackled and manipulated like a lifeless doll."
Medea stared at her sister with a heartbreaking look. "Whereas I... I lived in the blazing hatred of all the empire's citizens. Eros made me a public enemy, a monster whose life was surrounded by hatred. Now, our main enemy is indeed no longer in this world, but that doesn't change our fragile fate. We still need absolute power to be able to protect the people who are precious to us!"
Medea drew a sharp breath, trying to calm the trembling in her voice. "And Arthur Pendragon is the only worthy person. He will become the King who protects us, as long as you and I stand by his side to guide him."
Psyche was stunned. For the first time, she saw lines of sorrow and fragility so real in Medea's eyes. Slowly, Psyche touched her sister's arm, trying to provide warmth.
"Alright, Medea. I will not forbid you," Psyche said softly yet full of firmness. "But remember one thing: I will be the brakes for the two of you. If you or Brother Arthur start to cross the line and lose your way, I myself will stop the two of you. Because to me, both of you are the most meaningful people in my life."
"Thank you, Psyche," Medea whispered softly, feeling her burden lifted slightly.
However, that touching moment immediately shattered when a mysterious voice was heard from the dark corner of the room beside them.
"It seems you have made a decision," the voice suddenly said.
Lady Avalon stepped out from behind the shadows of the room's corner, carving a smile at the two of them.
"What kind of creature are you, really? Why couldn't I sense your presence at all?" Medea hissed, glaring sharply at the white-cloaked witch.
"Oh, fufu~ You still can't sense my presence because right now you are still very weak, Young Lady," Lady Avalon teased casually.
In the blink of an eye—without any wind or visible traces of magic—she had teleported and appeared right beside Medea, then gently patted the top of the little girl's head.
Medea gasped in shock. Her fighting instinct immediately took over. With extraordinary speed, she drew a knife from her left waist and darted forward, intending to stab Lady Avalon with a genuine murderous aura.
"Medea!" Psyche shrieked in panic, seeing her sister's reckless action.
However, Lady Avalon did not panic at all. She simply twirled her body gracefully to avoid the deadly stab, then very casually thrust the tip of her witch's staff between the legs of the lunging Medea.
Bang! Medea lost her balance and fell flat onto the wooden floor.
"Hoho~ you are one billion years too early to be able to attack me," Lady Avalon laughed heartily.
But Medea was not someone who gave up easily. She immediately sprang up and lunged again with a barrage of attacks. The knife in her hand flashed wildly, but strangely, Lady Avalon evaded every slash and thrust with very relaxed movements. It was as if the woman could already predict the future and perfectly read every direction of Medea's attacks.
"You! Are you really a witch?!" Medea grumbled, panting and full of frustration. "Why are your movements so nimble like a master swordsman?!"
"Hoho~ Come on, keep going! This really makes me nostalgic. Back then, Arthur also reacted exactly like you when I taught him swordsmanship!" Lady Avalon smiled cheerfully.
Suddenly, her initially playful gaze turned slightly serious. She changed the rhythm of her movements in the blink of an eye.
Before Medea realized what had happened, the tip of Lady Avalon's staff had spun in the air and struck Medea's back with precision.
Bang! Medea kissed the floor once again, but this time her tiny body was locked tightly, pinned to the ground by the tip of the witch's staff until she could not move at all.
"Okay, playtime is over," Lady Avalon said cheerfully while pulling her staff back, releasing the pressure on the girl's back.
"Now let's discuss our long-term plan. Come on quickly, I still have business I need to finish after this."
Medea slowly got up. Her hands were still itching to lunge again, but she swallowed her ego and abandoned the intention. She was well aware that the difference in power between them was too absurd.
"Alright, Witch," Medea said while standing straight to brush the dust off her clothes.
"Then what is your plan now? Are we going to start making our move tomorrow?"
"No. We will not make any big moves for the time being," Lady Avalon answered casually. "Starting tomorrow, the two of you should behave just like ordinary village children, exactly as you have been doing all this time."
"Why is that?" Psyche's forehead creased in confusion.
Lady Avalon leaned her body against her staff casually. "Because there is someone quite troublesome currently hiding in this village."
The witch tilted her head with a faint smile. "Well, to be honest, he can't be said to be too strong by my standards. He only wins in brutal raw physical power. I could easily trap him in an endless dream curse whenever I wanted. However... his wife keeps begging me so pitifully to not hurt her husband. So, as a kind-hearted witch, I decided to let him live."
"Huh?!" Medea's eyes widened in disbelief. "There is a person with that level of power hiding in this slum village in the middle of nowhere?! Is he a threat to us or to Arthur?!"
"Hmm~ Who knows? We'll just see in the future," Lady Avalon smiled enigmatically, deliberately pretending not to know.
"But... how much longer do we have to keep pretending?" Psyche asked, trying to bring the focus of the conversation back to their plan.
Lady Avalon tapped the tip of her finger against her chin, appearing to weigh the timeline in her head. "Hmm... let's try to target about one year and four months from now."
She looked at the two girls alternately. "Next year at the age of six, you will participate in the Spirit Awakening ceremony. After that ceremony is over, you just need to hold yourselves back and wait for about three to four more months. Most likely, that is the time when that troublesome person will leave this village forever."