"Dim Dim!" Alex called out to the little bun as soon as he entered the guest room.
At those words, Dim Dim jumped in Alex’s direction, and the young man caught it mid-air.
He then pressed the little bun on his chest and lightly patted its head, making the latter make "ufufu" sounds.
"I missed you, Dim Dim."
"Dim Dim!"
After their reunion, Alex then shifted his attention toward Fran, Vaan, and Renard, who had met each other in the city of Everdawn.
He then placed Dim Dim on top of his head, where it rightfully belonged, before moving to hug Fran.
"I missed you too, Fran," Alex said. "I’m glad you’re safe."
"I missed you too, Alex," Fran replied. "But I didn’t travel here alone. Lavinia, Cairo, and Elaine are also in the city."
"They are?" Alex let out a sigh of relief. At last, his group was nearly complete.
But then he realized something. Fran only said that Lavinia, Cairo, and Elaine were in the city.
She didn’t mention Efa at all, who was usually with Elaine and his Master.
Perhaps knowing what was going on in his mind, Fran shook her head at him. "We didn’t see Efa. Cairo and Elaine tried to look for her, but they failed. Instead, they stumbled upon us, and we all traveled together to reach this city."
Alex nodded back in understanding. Right now, there were only two people who were part of his group not in the city.
Efa and Charles.
He already knew Charles’ whereabouts, and he believed that he was the person whom they needed to deal with in order to complete the challenge.
Knowing that information was important, Alex also shared the whereabouts of his other companions.
"Chuck is here in the castle," Alex said. "He plays the role of my brother, while Eleanora is his wife. However, she no longer remembers herself as Eleonora. Her Synchronization Rate is probably maxed out at this point."
The expressions of everyone in the room turned solemn at those words, for they knew the hardships of falling under the influence of the Synchronization Rate.
They had experienced it in the past, and it was truly a troublesome thing.
"Where are the others?" Fran inquired. "Are they here as well?"
"Y-Yes." Alex did his best to remain calm. "Astrea, Lapiz, Aeris, Evangeline, and Latifa are also here."
"What roles do they play?" Vaan asked with genuine curiosity.
"Well... Astrea is my Queen," Alex replied. "On the other hand, Aeris and Lapiz are my concubines."
""What?!""
Fran and Vaan exclaimed at the same time, while Renard remained indifferent.
As long as he was not messing with his women, he didn’t really care who Alex ended up with.
Half a minute later, Vaan asked another question.
"Did you do it with them?" Vaan inquired.
His question was incredibly vague and could be interpreted in many ways. However, the way he said the words could only mean one thing.
At that, Alex didn’t answer. He just remained silent.
Of course, that silence was enough for Fran and Vaan to understand how things unfolded.
"Oh no. You are in trouble." Vaan chuckled. "And to think their mother is also the Head Maid of the palace. I can already imagine the bad ending."
"Don’t jinx me." Alex glared back at Vaan, which made the latter chuckle a second time.
In order to change the topic, Alex then explained Charles’ current situation.
This made the indifferent Renard turn solemn. He had already considered Charles a friend, so he couldn’t help but worry a little.
"That sounds... serious." Even Vaan frowned after hearing Charles’ current state. "Nessia must be suffering right now."
"She is." Alex nodded. "She had a fever last night. I just hope it has gone down this morning."
"So, what’s the plan?" Renard asked. "We’re going to save Charles, right?"
"Of course we will," Alex replied. "We will save him, no matter what."
It was then that Vaan remembered something important.
"Oh, right. Alex, we saw the me from Reverse Arcana," Vaan said in a serious tone. "He briefly fought against Renard, but he had to leave. From what we heard, he seems to be on a mission."
"I am already aware of Reverse Vaan’s existence." Alex nodded. "Evangeline and Latifa told me about him."
During their travels with Himea and Efa, the two ladies had shared some important information with Evangeline and Latifa.
Naturally, they shared this information with Alex, allowing him to get a general idea of why Reverse Vaan had crossed over to their world.
"The people from Reverse Arcana wish to hijack Hy-Brasil to have it become their base of operations," Alex shared this information with his friends. "Though they can cross over to this world, they cannot stay for long. At most, they can only be here for a few days. After that, they would have no choice but to return to their world."
He then paused before finishing his explanation.
"Hy-Brasil is an island that travels through dimensions. The moment they gain control of this island, they can appear anywhere in Arcana and do whatever they want without fearing the laws of the world."
"Is that even allowed?" Vaan asked in a doubtful tone. "Will the Progenitors not do anything and let them run rampant?"
Alex also had his doubts about whether the Progenitors would remain indifferent once they realized that someone from a parallel world was causing trouble in Arcana.
It would be easy for Professor Rowan to gather his colleagues and launch an attack against Hy-Brasil the moment they discovered its location.
Then again, that was also probably the reason why those from Reverse Arcana chose to set their base in Hy-Brasil. Perhaps there was something on the island that would allow them to resist the influence of the Progenitors.
This was only speculation on Alex’s part, but he believed that Reverse Alex had a plan.
Reverse Latifa had warned him back then that he would need all the help he could get when going to Hy-Brasil.
Clearly, she was warning him that Reverse Alex would arrive while they were trying to save Lapiz and Aeris’ mother from the island.
Truth be told, Alex didn’t know how they could win if their reverse counterparts were to cross over to Hy-Brasil.
Reverse Latifa had eight tails, which meant that she was already Rank 8.
He didn’t know if the same could be said for the others, but they should at least be Rank 7 and above.
As for Reverse Alex, he believed that he was already Rank 8, just like Latifa.
A bunch of Rank 7 and Rank 8 fighting against them, who were all still at Rank 5, could not even be called a fair fight.
If anything, it would become a one-sided beating. No matter how hard they tried to resist, it was impossible to win.
Unless...
’Unless the Hermit had foreseen this event beforehand,’ Alex thought.
If that was the truth, then maybe there was something in Hy-Brasil that could give them the chance to win.
Maybe the real challenge was actually how they would defeat the people from Reverse Arcana instead of facing off against Charles, who seemed to have already lost control of his senses.
Of course, all the thoughts in Alex’s head were still what-if scenarios.
He didn’t have enough information to confirm whether his guess was right or wrong.
The only thing he was certain about was that their reverse counterparts would come.
When they did, Alex and his friends would have no choice but to face them.
’What should I do?’ Alex sighed internally. ’Should I confront Charles first, or should I instead look for clues if there is some kind of powerful divine artifact or weapon that might help us overcome this challenge?’
Seeing his anxious look, Fran reached out to give his hand a light squeeze.
"You are not alone, Alex," Fran said softly. "We will face this challenge together."
Alex relaxed a bit and hugged his lover once more.
She was right.
He wasn’t alone. If they pooled their strength and minds together, then they might be able to find a solution to beat this nearly impossible challenge that they would have to face sooner or later.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter
