They don't want me to try anymore.

You go inside and pray before the enchanting statue of a goddess, shrouded in mystery, whispering: "She has been split."

Ten minutes passed, half an hour passed, an hour passed... and nothing happened.

Ah this...

I went through all the trouble of running errands for you, but my great goddess, don't you even give me any response?

Did you not hear me, or did you hear me but didn't want to reward me?

Richard, who already lacked reverence for the gods, was now filled with mutterings to himself—of course, he certainly wouldn't dare say them aloud.

In short, after waiting for a long time, he found that there was still no response, so he had no choice but to leave helplessly.

What should we do next?

After much deliberation, Richard decided not to linger in the North, where he had no foothold. He planned to head south, bypass the Empire, find a more prosperous place to accumulate strength, and then continue his anti-imperialist cause.

But shortly after he left the chapel.

The entire church turned into ice chips and disappeared in the wind and snow.

Sofia emerged from the woods, muttering to herself, "Division? What does that mean?"

To understand why Sofia is here, we need to go back to when Richard first surrendered...

Yes, she is a simulated person.

Because Richard consistently delivered outstanding performances in almost every simulation, she remained focused on this man—including intentionally trying to get closer to him in real life.

After all, how could a princess in a chaotic world with ideals possibly refuse such a talented person who could govern the country and incite rebellion?

During the simulation, she was incredibly envious of Alice and Veronica!

However, this time, her goal is not to become king or fight for supremacy.

Previously, she had unexpectedly learned from the Gaius family's secret channels that something extremely important to their family, related to divine power, might be hidden beneath the empire's central prison.

But she was never sure about it and didn't care much about it.

Their family has collected countless similar reports over the centuries, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. The Central Prison is not a good place to investigate.

It wasn't until the last simulation, when Richard and Luvia escaped but mysteriously died and disappeared, that she realized there might indeed be something wrong here.

So this time, when Richard, just like before, foolishly landed himself in central prison, she realized that the opportunity she had been waiting for had arrived.

She first forged an identity and secretly made contact with the escaped prisoners in the prison, becoming their ally. Then she learned that Richard wanted a teleportation scroll to the North.

Then she decided to play along, preparing a teleportation scroll for a location she had chosen, and secretly making an identical one for herself.

As Richard teleported away, she followed in his footsteps, keeping a close watch on his every move in the small village where she had spies everywhere.

Upon learning that Richard wanted to go to the church, she instructed the snow elves to delay him while she went ahead and conjured up a fake church to try and find out his intentions.

Judging from the results... it wasn't very successful. The overheard statement was incoherent and she didn't know what it meant.

But it's okay, it's just a simulation, it's normal to fail once or twice.

She can try repeating that sentence herself in a church next time.

Furthermore, Richard's behavior definitively proves that something related to the divine exists beneath the Central Prison, and is connected to the Goddess of Night. Therefore…

Undeterred, Sophia sent people to continue secretly following Richard before quickly returning to the Empire. Under the pretext of visiting a distant relative, she obtained permission to enter the central prison...

You have entered the central prison; nothing amiss has been found.

You found a secluded spot, activated your ancestral heirloom necklace, and immediately heard some kind of chaotic vibrating sound.

After a long period of meditation, you finally heard the content of the noise clearly: "This shouldn't be the case. If the hunchback is truly the will of the Wings of Calamity..."

Sofia's body trembled slightly.

really!

You've found the right place!

"We salute you, our former masters."

After you spoke those words to the mysterious being, you raised the necklace in your hand and recited the incantation you had memorized.

The mysterious being was first surprised, then panicked: "This power... a descendant of Gaius has entered? Traitor! Thief who stole my authority! How dare you come before me... Wait, what are you doing? You want to forcibly touch my power?"

"Foolish mortal, have you gone mad? Even if I am merely a fragment of the former Ice God, I am not someone you can easily lay your hands on..."

[You listened to the mysterious voice's roar without stopping, until the immense force began to destroy your body, and the entire central prison's alarms blared in response to your actions...]

Finally, you could no longer hold on, and with another violent surge of magical energy, your body exploded.

【you are dead】

This simulation has ended.

Do you accept...?

"accept!"

Idaril, in a bedroom somewhere.

Sofia woke up abruptly from her bed. Despite being covered in sweat and aching all over, she couldn't help but laugh with ecstatic joy.

Although on the surface she gained nothing and ended up killing herself...

But as a descendant of Gaius, whose bloodline flows with the power of ice and snow, the memory and experience of briefly entangled with a being who seemed to be the god of ice was enough to give her a leap in understanding her own power!

"I don't need to go to prison in real life, I just need to go through the simulation a few more times..."

Sofia let out a long breath, watching the tiny snowflakes that seemed to appear out of thin air at her fingertips, and murmured to herself:

"Soon, I will have the power to peer into the Gold Rank!"

But just as she was getting excited...

A man still in the simulation let out a miserable wail!

"Tough luck, bad luck, bad luck!"

I need to take a day off.

There are experiments that need to be redone... QAQ

To avoid delaying graduation, I'm taking a short day off. I'll resume work tomorrow... QAQ, QAQ

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Chapter Ninety-Two: The Man Behind the Sword Saint

"I'm so unlucky!"

Looking at the refreshed text, Li sighed and remained speechless.

On your return journey, you were caught in an avalanche and unfortunately buried.

You used magic to escape, but awakened a powerful lord-level demonic bear nearby. For some reason, the bear was unusually fierce towards you, forcing you to engage it in battle.

[You have won, but you are also injured and have used up a lot of magic. You have no potions or equipment, and even the warm clothes you bought from the villagers are torn. A blizzard is raging around you, and it will be difficult for you to recover.]

Ok……

I have to admit that this desolate and cold place in the North is quite dangerous. I just got out of prison, I have nothing and I don't know the way. I shouldn't be wandering around in such a place.

Let's find a larger settlement nearby, buy some basic equipment, and hire a guide or something.

Wait, I remember now, I don't have any money right now...

I think I should get a job first.

Well, at least things can't get any worse...

You see smoke rising from distant chimneys; approach it.

You discover that this is a military camp.

The troops stationed here appear to be from a nearby warlord. When you went to visit the army's leader, you found him reading a newspaper from the Empire.

[There's a handsome photo of you on the front page... with a huge reward offered below it.]

A conflict has occurred between you.

[Your injuries are still severe, you were no match for your opponent, and you were captured.]

Ah this...

To reiterate what was said earlier, Richard had come to a profound realization: when you feel like you might be having a run of bad luck, don't rush to despair, because... you might be having even worse luck next.

Well, now I'm going to be sent back to the Empire.

But at least provide the prisoners with some basic living conditions, right? That way, maybe I can take the opportunity to recover and escape...

[You were shackled and imprisoned in a cage that suppressed your magic. You traveled south and soon arrived at the empire's border fortress. The fortress soldiers received you and escorted you with heavy guards as you continued south.]

Midway through the journey, the escorting team encountered a mysterious masked nun.

The nun suddenly launched an attack, knocking all the guards unconscious with just her fists. Her terrifying strength and precision astonished you.

One-Punch Nun, right?