William moved through the sky like a streak of light, effortlessly avoiding several silver daggers that shot toward him from different directions. Every attack Selena launched carried enough force to kill powerful cultivators instantly, yet he continued to evade them without showing any signs of strain. Up until this point, he had not launched a single attack of his own. He had only been defending and avoiding her assaults while attempting to keep the situation from escalating even further.

"Stop fighting, both of you!"

Seraphine’s voice echoed desperately from below as she stood amidst the damaged remains of the study. She shouted with all her strength, hoping her words would somehow reach them.

Unfortunately, neither of the two paid any attention.

The battle had already risen far above the castle itself.

The enormous branches and shoots of the World Tree that surrounded the palace suddenly began growing at a frightening pace. Massive green vines burst outward from every direction, extending through the air as though the tree itself had awakened in response to Selena’s fury.

The gigantic vines twisted and coiled through the sky before transforming into colossal whips.

Their target was singular.

William.

Hundreds of enormous vine whips surged toward him simultaneously. Each one descended with enough force to slice through mountains and crush powerful dragons into pulp.

Yet William continued weaving through them effortlessly. The difference between him and Selena was simply too large.

She was a Lesser Godhood Realm powerhouse and one of the strongest individuals on the continent. Under normal circumstances, there were very few people alive capable of challenging her.

Unfortunately for her, William was not operating within normal circumstances; he was at the top of the food chain on this continent.

The gap between them was not merely a matter of cultivation realms. The difference in abilities, bloodline quality, perception, versatility, and raw power made the battle fundamentally one-sided.

The only reason the confrontation had lasted this long was that William had no desire to seriously fight her.

[Not going to lie, elves are extremely proud of their bloodlines and their connection to the World Tree. Your comments probably struck a very sensitive nerve.]

"The truth remains the truth," William replied calmly. "I would have left her alone with those beliefs if she hadn’t openly ordered Sera to leave me."

Meanwhile, the destruction continued spreading across the surrounding area.

The palace itself remained largely intact due to numerous protective formations and barriers. However, the gigantic World Tree beneath it shook continuously as more and more branches, roots, and vines extended outward in response to Selena’s will.

Massive tendrils swept through the sky with terrifying force.

Any one of them possessed enough power to turn a dragon with the toughest scales into a cloud of blood and shattered bone.

Back inside the damaged study, several familiar figures finally arrived.

Kara, Katherine, and Leila rushed into the room only to stop in shock as they looked upward through the shattered ceiling. Far above them, William and Selena continued their confrontation.

"When did he arrive?" Kara asked while turning toward Seraphine.

Before Seraphine could answer, Katherine suddenly spoke.

"He was the little hamster."

The room instantly fell silent.

Kara and Leila both turned toward Katherine with stunned expressions.

Seraphine stared at her as though she had just heard something impossible.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Katherine immediately avoided everyone’s gaze and awkwardly looked elsewhere.

Seraphine remained frozen. That conclusion should not have been possible. William was vastly stronger than Katherine and capable of hiding his presence from her.

If she had somehow figured out his identity, then either William had directly told her himself—which seemed highly unlikely—or she had somehow reached the conclusion through her own observations.

After thinking about it briefly, Seraphine reluctantly accepted the second possibility. Katherine had always been surprisingly observant.

Still, there were far more important matters demanding her attention. She quickly looked back toward the sky.

"MOM! AT LEAST GIVE ME A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN! "

Her voice rang across the battlefield. This time, she poured every ounce of emotion into the shout.

Unfortunately, her words achieved absolutely nothing.

Neither William nor Selena stopped. Instead, the spectacle continued drawing attention.

By now, nearly everyone within the palace grounds had gathered outside.

Servants, guards, nobles, scholars, and attendants all stared upward in disbelief.

Floating above the massive branches of the World Tree, the Elven Empress was engaged in battle against a human.

It was a sight few would have believed possible.

Above them, Selena’s attacks became increasingly extreme.

With a wave of her hand, countless illusory graveyards materialized throughout the sky.

Ancient tombstones stretched endlessly across a phantom landscape. The ground split apart.

Undead creatures crawled from beneath the earth and surged toward William in overwhelming numbers.

The illusions were so powerful that even people who were not direct targets began seeing fragments of them.

Many spectators suddenly found themselves standing in the middle of illusory battlefields.

Some saw corpses. Others saw monsters. Some saw endless darkness.

Seraphine suddenly screamed.

For a horrifying moment, she saw William being sliced cleanly in half by one of Selena’s attacks.

Her heart nearly stopped.

Only seconds later did she realize it had merely been another illusion created by her mother.

At this point, calling Selena’s illusions potent almost felt like an understatement.

She had completely lost control of her emotions.

"Why don’t you just give up?" William asked while effortlessly stepping around another wave of attacks. "Is it really worth continuing this fight against someone who is obviously going to win? No matter how hard you try, I am not going to die."

Rather than calming her down, his words only made things worse.

Selena’s expression darkened.

"You are not a mother."

William frowned slightly.

"All I’ve heard from you today is concern about bloodline purity," he replied. "You seem far more worried about preserving heritage than about Seraphine herself."

His annoyance finally began showing. Then he spoke the one thing he should not have said.

"I think I finally understand how someone like you managed to lose Seraphine to a group of slave traffickers."

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere changed.

Selena froze. Her face turned red from fury. Her body trembled.

Her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

[That was certainly an interesting de-escalation strategy.]

Before William could respond, Seraphine’s voice exploded inside his mind through their mental connection.

"WILLIAM!" The anger in her voice caught him completely off guard.

There was no pleading anymore.

Only genuine anger.

A pang of guilt immediately formed inside his chest.

As irritated as he had been, he realized he had crossed a line. Slowly, he looked toward Selena.

For the first time since the battle began, he noticed something beneath her rage.

Tiny droplets of moisture had begun gathering in the corners of her eyes. The sight made him pause.

Before Selena could launch another attack, William finally decided the confrontation had gone far enough.

Selena was already gathering energy for another devastating beam attack when William disappeared.

One moment, he stood dozens of meters away.

The next moment, he appeared directly behind her. Selena’s eyes widened.

Before she could react, William gently placed both hands against her temples.

Then he activated several lunar abilities simultaneously.

A lunar tidal wave spread through her mind first, washing away the overwhelming panic and dread that had accumulated during the confrontation.

Lunar Blessing followed immediately afterward, soothing her emotions and stabilizing her thoughts.

Finally, Sovereign Moon Pressure descended upon her consciousness, suppressing the chaos and restoring a sense of calm.

Selena’s body swayed slightly. For a brief moment, confusion flashed across her face. Then, without any warning whatsoever, she simply fell asleep.

William blinked. That result had not been what he expected.

He had intended to only calm her down and not do anything else. Putting her to sleep had not been part of the plan.

"Well... that works too."

Without wasting any time, he carefully caught her before she could fall and carried her back toward the castle. Below, Seraphine watched everything happen.

The moment William landed, she rushed forward. The emotional tension she had been holding back finally broke.

Tears streamed down her face as she buried herself against his chest. At the same time, she repeatedly struck him with her fists.

None of the blows carried any real strength. They were simply expressions of frustration.

"How could you say something that hurtful to Mom?" she cried between breaths.

William sighed. "I know. I’m sorry."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I got a little annoyed when she started talking about bloodline purity."

Seraphine did not know how to respond. She carefully took Selena from William’s arms and held her mother close. At that moment, she felt trapped between the two most important people in her life.

Her mother had always possessed a temper, but never to the point of completely losing control. William, meanwhile, was normally impossible to provoke.

She had never expected him to intentionally say something so cruel. Yet somehow, both of them had behaved opposite to what she expected.

The entire situation left her emotionally exhausted. Still sniffling, she gently laid Selena on a nearby table and carefully checked her for injuries.

Fortunately, there were none. Several minutes passed. Eventually, Selena’s eyelids fluttered open.

Her expression appeared strangely peaceful compared to earlier. William stood nearby with his arms folded while leaning casually against a pillar.

Kara, Katherine, Leila, and Seraphine had all gathered around Selena.

Outside, servants and workers were already busy cleaning the aftermath of the battle and repairing the damaged portions of the castle.

Selena slowly sat upright while holding her forehead.

"Ugh..." She looked around in confusion.

"What happened to me?"

Seraphine immediately grabbed her arm and asked with a loud voice. "You don’t remember?"

Selena blinked. Then she slowly shook her head.

The moment her gaze wandered across the damaged room, an alarm appeared on her face.

She saw broken debris and cracks everywhere.

Signs of a battle were impossible to miss. Then her eyes landed on William.

Her expression immediately sharpened. She pointed directly at him.

"You!" Selena frowned.

"When did you arrive here?"