Oliver stood there for a while, slumped on the ground, breathing in heavy, uneven heaves as he held his bleeding stomach. His fingers were slick with blood, the warmth of it still fresh against his palm. For a moment he was bleeding... and strangely, in the very next—

He wasn’t.

The gash on his gut completely disappeared as though it had never been there in the first place, as though reality itself had simply denied the injury ever existed.

"An illusion?" he whispered to himself, pulling his trembling hand away from his abdomen as he felt his strength slowly, steadily return to him.

This... this was similar to the first time he met Zeph.

And as the illusion slowly peeled away like a dissolving veil, Oliver remained seated on the cold floor of the throne room. Around him, subtle changes began to reveal themselves in the Obsidian chamber, which had once stood in an originally pristine, untouched condition.

Now... it told a different story.

There were signs of a brutal battle having unfolded.

Pillars had been torn from their roots, some split clean in half, others reduced to rubble. The once smooth ground had caved in at several points, forming jagged craters and cracks that stretched across the dark floor like fractures in glass. And just a few feet away lay a massive, grotesque body of a monster.

That was the body of the king.

Laid dead on the ground, unmoving... defeated.

[You have killed Faceless Shadow]

[You have leveled up]

[You have reached level 18]

[You have totalled 3080 karma points]

[You have totalled 1200 evolution Karma points]

[You have successfully conquered the Dark Castle]

[Would you like to claim this stronghold]

Oliver smiled faintly at the improvements displayed within his system. The glow of the notifications reflected dimly in his eyes. Beside him, the Dark Crow cawed as well—but not in excitement.

It was exhaustion.

A sharp, annoyed sound, as though it was warning him that if he ever pulled an insane move like this again, it would personally poke out his eyes.

They were both exhausted.

But they had progressed far.

"Don’t give me that look, we are finally on the level of Rankers, and we did this in just a few weeks," Oliver said with a tired but satisfied smile on his face.

The Dark Crow, in turn, dismissed itself rudely, vanishing without another sound and leaving Oliver sitting alone on the ground.

He let out a quiet breath, smiling to himself, before slowly beginning to rise to his feet.

As he stood upright—

BANG!

A loud crash erupted from the massive doors being forced open, the sound echoing through the ruined throne room. It instantly caught Oliver’s attention as his gaze snapped toward the entrance.

Eva.

Sasha.

Isolde.

They were moving toward him.

Sasha and Isolde hurried over immediately, dropping to all fours like the beasts they were, their movements fast, instinctive, almost feral.

Eva, however, walked behind them... slower, more reserved, her posture slightly shrunken as if unsure how to approach.

"Lord Crow!" Sasha yelled, leaping forward without hesitation.

She crashed into Oliver with overwhelming force, sending him falling flat onto his back.

"—!"

Before he could even react, Isolde rushed in as well, throwing herself onto him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

This was something unexpected.

Oliver thought as he was crushed under the combined weight of both girls, "argggh! I can’t breathe."

"Shut up! You should be glad I am hugging you," Sasha ranted, tightening her hold even more.

"I’m thankful," Isolde added in her usual caring tone, though she made no move to ease the pressure.

Still, Oliver had no idea why they were behaving this way.

With how he had left them, he had expected only two possibilities to arise.

Either Eva killed them both...

Or they did her in.

But this...

Oliver furrowed his brows, staring at the two overly excited girls before shifting his gaze past them toward Eva, who rubbed her forearm shyly, avoiding direct eye contact.

’What did she do.’

After a while of hugging... More like slowly murdering Oliver under their weight, the two beast girls finally pulled away, allowing him to sit up as he drew in a deep, much-needed breath.

Within him, he heard the Dark Crow cawing in mockery, and he frowned inwardly.

Then he turned back to the girls, curiosity evident in his expression.

"Why are you so happy?"

Sasha frowned, throwing a playful punch to his shoulder. "Eva told us everything you did."

Oliver narrowed his eyes slightly. "She did?"

Isolde nodded gently, raising her fingers as her cheeks reddened slightly, a soft smile forming on her lips. "You drugged us... and had Eva heal you completely so you could conquer the castle alone without endangering us. You protected us. Strangers."

"I was angry at first, but after hearing the full story and seeing the notification of you conquering the castle... thank you, buddy," Sasha added with a grin.

While the two girls spoke, Oliver remained completely bewildered by the outcome.

His gaze slowly shifted back to Eva.

She looked just as dumbfounded as he felt.

She was the one that manipulated both beast girls...

’Still... she used my words and reasoning to shape their understanding. But in all honesty, it is not a lie. I conquered this place partially for her.’ 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Oliver pulled down his mask and pushed back his hoodie, his lips curling into a faint, questionable smile. Whether it was genuine or forced, even he couldn’t tell.

’No matter how I think about it... without a doubt, I still have feelings. I still care. Because in the end... I am still human.’

With that, Oliver rose fully to his feet and stretched his hand out toward Eva Montclair, catching her attention as her calm gaze softened with curiosity.

"As I promised, I have conquered the Dark Castle for you," he said.

She opened her mouth, then stuttered slightly, her hand rising instinctively to her lips. "I do not actually have the seven thousand Karma points on me."

Oliver’s expression darkened immediately, and he tilted his head slightly.

"I do not need your karma points... just a promise."

"A promise?" she repeated softly.

Oliver lingered for a moment, recalling Zeph’s words.

They had both been murdered in his first life.

And maybe... that was not unique to them.

The thought twisted something deep within him.

A strange apprehension gripped his chest, tightening it, making his heartbeat grow louder, heavier. His stomach churned as he stared into Eva’s beautiful eyes.

Was this... anxiety?

His hand slowly moved to his chest before he exhaled.

"Yes. Promise me to live long enough for us to meet again... and I will also make a promise of my own, regarding when we do meet."

As Oliver said this, anxious expressions spread across the faces of the girls as they watched him.

Especially Eva, whose cheeks could clearly be seen slowly painting red.

"When we meet, I promise to show you what true joy is... and make your life feel no longer hollow."

Eva’s eyes trembled violently, her emotions barely contained as her lips curled downward, her cheeks burning.

She tried to speak—

"I—"

But her voice faltered.

Hesitating for a moment, she tried once again—

And all of a sudden—

Oliver was gone.

No longer in the Dark Castle.

No longer in the second realm.

[You have received command of the Dark Castle]

Still, Eva was not shaken by this notification.

Instead, she was taken aback by something else—another notification that appeared before her.

She stared at it for a few seconds.

And then, unable to keep reading, she looked away.

[Slave contract: The contract terms only have one command made by the master. Keep surviving]

Throughout the short while she had spent with Oliver... throughout the memories she had seen from breaching his mind whenever he thought of her...

All he wanted...

Was for her to keep living.

At that moment, her chest tightened painfully, her breath catching as a quiet thought echoed within her—

’We will meet again one day... Lord Crow.’

Oliver Mori was not just a man who sought revenge.

He had been changed—reshaped by pain, carved by endless hardship into who he was now.

And yet... he endured.

He did not forget who he was.

What he protected.

What he conquered.

To him—

That was what truly living was about.