---

Chapter 168: Alice’s Fear

It was a dream.

A sea of blood surged, the sky trembled, with angry roars and mournful wails everywhere.

It was a battlefield.

Soaring through the sky, claws as blades, scales as shields, unleashing the murderous intent with roaring flames — a battlefield not belonging to humans.

Roy felt as if he was personally galloping in the battlefield, wielding supreme power like the master of the dream, yet drowning in endless sorrow.

Sorrow for having to slay his own kin.

The Dragon King defended its throne, crushing all treasonous conspirators.

Yet, at the end of the battle, that fallen dragon from the abyss let out a heart-wrenching roar.

With rolling black golden eyes, it seemed to transcend endless years, proclaiming its unwillingness and anger, radiating a chilling killing intent, as if a flame that never extinguished, willing to sacrifice its own kin, at any cost, just to burn this vast sky down with its lifelong unquenchable fury—

The dream broke.

The night still lingered, the dawn yet to break.

Even though it wasn’t his first time experiencing a dream from divine power, the black-haired boy was still sweating profusely, dazed for a while before coming to his senses.

“Mother, I had a nightmare.”

“Aren’t you too old to be having nightmares? Why don’t you just admit you wet the bed?”

“……”

“Just a joke to lighten the mood.”

The sweet and piercing laughter of Rolyn filled his mind, causing Roy to momentarily forget his worry about the nightmare.

He went on to explain the dream to Rolyn.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. When you reach Sequence 5, you start dreaming of strange things. This is probably from the memories of demigods.”

Roy pondered, “Memories… similar to the legacy of the False King’s blood? But…….”

“Similar, but different,” Rolyn corrected him.

“Think about it, the memories you received during the divine blessing came from your shared bloodline, and the perspective was more like that of an observer. No matter how much resonance, it was all experiences brought by blood.”

“But your dream is the memory of the deity itself.”

Rolyn’s tone became significant: “This means you’re beginning to contain more divine blood, getting closer to the essence of the gods.”

“I didn’t get the chance to touch the essence of the gods, but if it’s you, maybe you could grasp the true power of the gods.”

The False King has the power to connect with deities and receive their blessing.

This power, developed to the extreme, wouldn’t be strange even if it obtained true divine blood.

In truth, he already had dragon lineage, blood clan, and sea people’s blood inside him, and his soul was sheltered by the phoenix.

However, when it came to truly touching the essence of the gods, Roy still felt a sense of emotion.

Divine power, not to mention humans, even many extraordinary beings and mythical creatures could hardly step into that realm in their whole lives.

But for someone like the False King who received the blessings of the gods, it wasn’t out of reach.

There was an uncontrollable excitement, but also trembling and unease.

However, not to mention his divinity was still extremely limited; he was still far from stepping into Sequence 4.

As for the nightmare itself, it was merely a distant memory of the Dragon King in the First Era, now long gone without leaving even historical records.

Overthinking it was meaningless.

Roy quickly suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

He instinctively sought to hug the girl next to him but ended up grabbing at air.

It was then he realized the space beside him was empty, with only strands of golden hair and a faint warmth left.

After making a promise with Charlotte and the others, Roy had received permission to share the bed with Alice.

Where had that child gone at this hour?

Roy got out of bed, leaving the dark bedroom, passing through the salon for the girls until he finally found that golden figure on the balcony.

In a world where dawn had yet to arrive, everything looked dim and blurry.

The city was still asleep, the streets were empty, and not a single bird was flying in the sky, only the silence that seemed to cover the entire world.

The blonde girl stood barefoot, wrapped in her sleepwear, gazing longingly into the night, inexplicably tinged with a sense of desolation.

Roy’s heart tightened, and he quietly approached her from behind.

Noticing his arrival, the girl snapped back to reality, her face returning to its familiar calm: “Master?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

Roy countered with his own question: “Had a nightmare, did you?”

He wouldn’t let her evade, gently holding her hand.

The girl fell silent.

“Coincidentally, I had a nightmare too.”

Alice paused: “You did, Master?”

“Yeah, seems like it’s just a phenomenon for a False King reaching Sequence 5, fragments of memories from demigods, not something to worry about.”

After explaining, Roy looked at Alice with a mischievous grin like a scheming merchant: “I’ve told you my dream now, can you tell me what you dreamed about?”

Alice sighed slightly but obediently leaned close, resting her little head against his chest.

The familiar warmth, the solid chest, and the scent that belonged only to Roy.

No need for much; simply being by his side made Alice genuinely happy.

Each day waking up to find each other beside them, each night falling asleep together after a kiss — it felt blissful yet perhaps unreal, but undeniably real without any pretense.

Yet the happier she felt, the more unease Alice experienced.

“I dreamed about faith.”

Roy frowned slightly: “Faith?”

“Yeah, countless prayers, the faith of the believers.”

Faith is meant to be a beautiful feeling.

But when countless faiths converge, the massive wave they create can be overwhelming for an individual.

“Alice could hear the prayers of the believers for the goddess before. Originally, after sealing the goddess’s power, she couldn’t hear them, but now unexpectedly…”

Recalling those cold, lifeless crystal eyes, Alice began to tremble involuntarily.

The goddess’s power was not completely eradicated; it was merely sealed deep within her soul.

“If, if Alice can’t digest this power completely in the end…”

Alice’s brow furrowed slightly, her face turning pale.

Initially, she had filled her heart with thoughts of a future alongside Roy, bravely accepting the coming Holy Light, even daring to defy the goddess.

But now, precisely because she had obtained everything she wanted, a hint of fear rose within her.

Fear of forgetting, fear of loneliness, fear of not being able to feel his breath and heartbeat like now.

Fear of losing everything she already had.

It was only for gaining him that Alice could be a brave paladin.

Yet it was also because she feared losing him, making Alice tremble in unease now.

Just like someone dwelling in darkness, unwilling to return once they have experienced the affection of light.

“It’s quite rare, isn’t it? Alice can also feel fear?”

“Sorry, I said something pathetic.”

Alice lowered her head uneasily.

But just then, a familiar touch came from above.

It was Roy’s hand.

“It’s okay to be afraid.”

His black eyes gazed deeply, the long night bringing a glimmer of light upon the girl at that moment.

Roy caressed Alice’s head, gentle yet firm: “No matter how many times, I will always save you back.”