Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

Joan of Arc seemed to have made up her mind and said, "Teacher, is there anything I don't understand? Tell me everything. I want to know everything about you."

For a moment, a complex expression appeared in Aaron's eyes. He was clearly hesitant, but seeing the determination in Joan's eyes, he sighed softly.

"You know, I died in that war, and this is where I was resurrected."

"It was the Levin Islands ten years ago."

Upon hearing this, Joan of Arc was greatly shaken. Although she had made up her mind, she was still taken aback when she heard these words.

"Wait... Teacher... tell me it's not true."

"Yes."

Aaron said calmly, "Ten years ago, the Levin Islands were a colony of the Kingdom of Doc. The Levin Islands were arguably the bridgehead of Doc's colonial power; everyone in the world knew about them. But precisely because of this, that place also became a hell on earth."

"At that time, the Lusset Empire had just recovered its domestic territory and was at the height of its power. It not only had an ambitious empress but also an invincible naval fleet, which was launching a full-scale attack on the Levin Islands. This attack lasted for three years. During that time, the Levin Islands were bombarded with cannon fire, and I just happened to be reborn in that place."

"Perhaps it was because the place where I died was full of war, and when I was resurrected, I was destined to be in the place with the highest intensity of war. When I was resurrected, I knew nothing, but I was born on the side of the Kingdom of Dok. I only knew that others were attacking us. A month later, I learned that the people who attacked us were the Lussetians."

"But at the time, that was all I knew. I didn't even know what year or month it was. I even thought the ruler at the time was a mad king. You know, I was on a small island, completely cut off from the outside world. Because of the bombardment, not even a bird could reach the island. The people on the island were all lifeless. I had no way to get information from the outside world, but I had to fight against those Lucerne people who wanted to come to the island. Isn't that ironic?"

Chapter 242 Unaware

The towering sentry posts and the vast city walls, stretching as far as the eye can see, resemble a giant red cliff. These walls, built a thousand years ago, protected Lusset from the invasion of the seven-nation coalition.

At dawn, Aaron stepped down from the carriage and looked around. The city walls, which had stood for thousands of years, were exactly the same as they had been back then, without any change. It seemed that even after another thousand years, they would not change at all and would continue to witness the history of Lusset, which made people sigh.

He turned around and said, "Aren't you coming out?"

A moment later, a figure stepped off the carriage; it was Joan of Arc.

At this time, Joan of Arc was still in disguise, wearing a neutral robe that matched her age and paired with long boots. She looked heroic and dashing, but her femininity was not diminished at all.

At least a decade or so had passed, and Joan of Arc's beauty was even more striking than before. Coupled with the influence of the Empress's aura, she possessed a unique charm that made her easily recognizable even in disguise. Therefore, they had cleared the area before they arrived.

Although they were heading to the edge of Esgard, clearing the area would not be easy. Even the ministers would probably find it difficult to accomplish. Only the person who currently holds the highest power in Lucert could do it without hesitation.

After leaving the room, Joan of Arc became very silent, occasionally showing a thoughtful expression, but now she finally spoke up: "Teacher, although I don't mind, is it really necessary?"

"It's necessary. You'll see later. Let's take a look at that scene first."

Joan of Arc glanced at the towering city walls: "Teacher, I can carry you up there, that way we can save time."

The suggestion sounded very appealing, but Aaron still refused. He turned to look at the city wall and said, "I heard you built a new elevator on the wall? I haven't seen it yet. Let me at least see it."

“That’s fine too.” Joan of Arc placed her hand in front of her chin, indicating that she accepted the suggestion.

The elevator rumbled upwards. There were only the two of them on board. The higher they went, the more they felt a white mist. The heavens and earth seemed to roar, and the surging mist rolled above them like boiling water. The higher they went, the more obvious the spiritual energy turbulence and spiritual energy storm became. It was as if they had entered a different world from Esgard below, but rather a place like a demon land or an ancient battlefield.

For ordinary superhumans, the mere roar of heaven and earth and the spiritual energy it emitted were enough to make them feel suffocated and dizzy, and they would soon be unable to hold on. Therefore, those who could climb the city wall were usually the strongmen of Esgard, and even the strongmen could not stay on it for long. Fortunately, there were not many guards needed here.

The fierce defense of Asgard created a unique ancient battlefield that lingered outside the walls of Asgard for more than a decade. To this day, thick war fog still hangs over the ancient battlefield, and roars constantly echo across the battlefield, as if the people in that war are still fighting inside, and as if dragons are still flying in it.

Some say that because this was the most powerful war in the world, it had incurred the wrath of the gods, and thus the gods punished it by making the war here never end, as a warning to the world. But whatever the outcome, the fact is that this place has become a forbidden area in Asgard, and also a barrier.

The advantage is that Asgard hardly needs to send anyone to defend this place. The ancient battlefield acts as a natural barrier, preventing the enemy from attacking from this side. However, at the same time, it has also become a forbidden area for Asgard, and they still cannot remove anything from the ancient battlefield.

Despite several large-scale recovery operations organized by the Asgardians, all of them have yielded little result and ended up being more bark than bite. As a result, they have not been able to bring back the bodies from the battlefield. Therefore, even the tombstones commemorating the war heroes do not actually contain any bodies. They simply place the tombstones facing the battlefield as a form of remembrance.

For this reason, the ancient battlefield became a paradise for adventurers. In addition to ordinary soldiers, powerful figures from various countries also died in the war. In a sense, the treasures of the seven powerful nations were concentrated there. If you could take out the weapon of one of the powerful figures or bring out the corpse of a dragon and sell it on the black market, you would never have to worry about food and drink again.

At first, Esgard could only turn a blind eye to these adventurers, after all, the country was on the verge of collapse at the time, and Joan of Arc did not have the energy to deal with them. However, in recent years, when Lusset finally regained his strength, the Ninth Bureau began to set up a sting operation.

We should wait until those adventure groups bring back their belongings from the ancient battlefield before plundering them and confiscating what they bring out for the state. They also have a reason to do so, since what they bring back are either belonging to national heroes or fallen soldiers, and these things originally belonged to the state, so there is nothing wrong with taking them.

What they brought out were either enemy weapons or enemy corpses. As a victorious nation, Lucerne should have been entitled to acquire these things. The Ninth Intendant had been doing this for many years, occasionally releasing some small and big fish to make the market boil and make them feel that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, thus exhausting their resources.

However, on one occasion, some adventurers who entered the ancient battlefield infiltrated the ranks of truly powerful individuals. They gained real benefits from the ancient battlefield, but this time, the Ninth Bureau's strength was insufficient, allowing them to escape. What they dug out of the ancient battlefield was Aaron's corpse.

After a long wait, they reached the top. Aaron sat astride the city wall and looked down, but he couldn't see anything at all. The city wall was extremely high, and the scene below was mostly covered by the fog of war. Only when the wind blew and lightning flashed could they vaguely see a little bit of the scene emerging from the rolling clouds below.

However, because the ancient battlefield was so vast, all they could see was sand, gravel, and mud, and nothing of real importance. Standing on it for a while without the protection of spiritual energy, they would often feel unwell, making it difficult to obtain any information from it.

"You haven't said anything in a long time, don't you want to say something?" After gazing at the mist below for a long time, Aaron seemed unable to bear the silence any longer and said with a smile.

“Teacher…I…I…I’m sorry…” Joan of Arc lowered her head.

"Is it still because of what happened this morning?"

"I never expected... I never expected my teacher to be on that island... I never expected... that I would almost kill my teacher..."

“You didn’t almost kill me.” Aaron shook his head. “You just almost killed me every day, like a tiger chasing me and biting me, but luckily I survived.”

Joan of Arc trembled: "Teacher...I..."

"You were not the one who unleashed the beast of war, but after the war ended, you were also bewitched by it and became like it, causing harm to both of us."

"That's why the teacher doesn't want to come back..."

"When the war ended, I had two choices: one was to stay on the island and continue to rebuild the land that had been ravaged by the war, and the other was to board a ship back to the Kingdom of Doc. But at that time I had nothing but a ticket back to the Kingdom of Doc."

“But I wasn’t without options. I knew a smuggler who told me he could take me to the Lucerne Empire. I asked him how, and he said he would hide me on a Lucerne warship. At worst, I could pretend to be a prisoner. Anyway, I could get back to Lucerne.”

“At that time, I was already quite familiar with him. I asked him why he was so sure that this would work. He said it wasn't that he thought it would work, but because I was very familiar with Lucerne, almost as if I was born in Lucerne. Obviously, I had a deep connection with Lucerne. He had seen many people like this. People like this either wanted to rush back to Lucerne or wanted to get away from Lucerne. He was actually gambling, gambling on which kind of person I was. And you know the answer I chose.”

These are clearly not words that can be said lightly, but so many years have passed and so many things have happened. Those three years have become a distant memory for Aaron. He speaks calmly, as if he were talking about someone else's affairs.

It was Joan of Arc, who had never experienced anything like this before, who broke down. She could barely stand and was about to kneel on the ground, crying out, "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

"Perhaps it's not your fault, because I never expected things to turn out this way. I never imagined you would eventually stand at the pinnacle of power. My expectation of you was simply to become a general in Lusset, someone who could protect himself. But ultimately, it's my fault. I didn't guide you well. I originally hoped you could be the one to end the war, but I never expected you to become the one to start it."

“I…” Joan of Arc looked at him, trembling. “But Master… all these years… I have always wanted to see you… every moment… whether in my dreams or in the Book of Omniscience, I have longed to see you…”

Aaron stared at her blankly, momentarily at a loss for words.

"I can't... be abandoned by my teacher again... I absolutely can't..."

“I…I won’t abandon you…” Aaron said, but it was a difficult thing to say.

“But you haven’t returned for twelve whole years… All these years I’ve been searching for you with the Book of Omniscience, even though I know… if even the Book of Omniscience can’t find you, then you’re probably dead, but I still keep doing it. I even used the Book of Omniscience to find a way to resurrect you, but I can’t find your body, no matter what I do…”

Aaron fell silent, not because he was listening to Joan of Arc's words, but because he had once felt he didn't have the courage to face all of this, didn't have the courage to come back. But when he actually came back here and spoke his true thoughts, he recalled those scenes from his dream, as if he were dreaming now.

They didn't say a word the whole way. Aaron understood, because they had so much to say, things they could say, things they couldn't say, things they weren't even aware of themselves. Their true thoughts would naturally surface when they returned to this turbulent place, this destined place. And at that moment, it seemed that the only way was to tell them everything.

“I’ve actually been blaming myself all these years,” Aaron said much later.

"It's not the teacher's fault...it's all my fault..."

"It's my fault. It's my fault for not teaching you well back then. It's my fault for not being able to see through your thoughts even after so many years and so much time together. It's my fault for always thinking that you were just a good kid on the surface. I never went deep into your inner world and never knew... that you liked me."

"Teacher...I..."

"I did like Aurelia back then, just like you liked me back then. But my situation was probably similar to yours. I didn't dare to confess, and I told myself that my feelings weren't love. Originally, if nothing unexpected happened, these feelings would have just passed like this. But things, or rather, the gods, wouldn't let me off so easily."

“When she was about to die, I realized that I might actually like her. I felt so sad when she died. Even years later, when I confirmed her death in the newspaper, even though I knew it back then, I still felt a pang in my heart when I actually confirmed it. It was like the sky had fallen.”

"Perhaps it's because I remembered what I was thinking back then that I now understand why you like me. So now... it seems I can also stand in Aurelia's shoes and face your feelings squarely, Jeanne."

Aaron stopped looking at Joan of Arc and instead looked at the turbulent battlefield ahead. He slowly closed his eyes.

In an instant, the roar of heaven and earth seemed to stop. Not only the roar, but the lightning and clouds in the sky, even the air itself, seemed to stand still. Everything in the world became silent, as if darkness had returned to the earth, and everything had returned to eternal darkness, just as if the world had just been created. Everything would become calm again in the face of darkness.

"teacher……"

Joan of Arc looked at him in fear. She had always thought that her teacher was just an ordinary person. However, she had obtained certain information beforehand that her teacher was a Sequence 8, a superhuman with the blessing of nature. But the power that her teacher was radiating at this moment was nothing like that of an ordinary Sequence 8. In an instant, Joan of Arc got goosebumps all over her body.

The teacher gave her the same feeling as before: he was still invincible and unstoppable, but the arrogance and sharp edge of his youth had vanished, replaced by a calm composure refined by the passage of time, like a towering mountain or a mighty river.

Chapter 243 The Final Confession

When darkness descended upon the earth once more, even the people of Esgardre were stunned. Although it was undoubtedly morning, the whole world seemed to have turned into night, and even the intense light of the sun was obscured by darkness. In Lucerne, some people knelt down as if worshipping a god.

Such an anomaly alarmed not only the people of Lusset, but also extraordinary beings and gods from various countries who detected this wondrous phenomenon. At this moment, countless eyes in the world are probably converging on the skies above Esgard, converging on the source of darkness.

Yes, darkness has a source, which is above the ancient battlefield. Upon realizing this, many people were shocked. The ancient battlefield is probably the most bizarre place in Asgard now. For more than ten years, no one has been able to set foot there. It is said that the heroic spirits of various countries are sleeping there, and they fight there day and night. Even the national government cannot deny this claim, because the strange phenomena above the ancient battlefield are too bizarre for anyone to explain.

In the classics about the Seven Gods, it is said that the gods created light. But at this moment, all the light in the world seems to have disappeared. In the world without light, darkness has once again become the ruler. The unruly spiritual power and the incessant thunder that have been rising above the ancient battlefield for more than ten years have now become calm, just like a lion that has been roaring for more than ten years has now become a docile kitten, because its master has returned.

In the apocalyptic darkness, only a faint light remained in Aaron's hand. Joan of Arc stared at him, her mouth agape in astonishment, for if she was not mistaken, the light Aaron held in his hand was the sun in the sky.

Aaron slowly tossed the faint light in his hand into the sky. In an instant, light returned to the earth, just like dawn. The world returned from night to day. A miracle occurred on this day in history. The rooster crowed again, and the sun rose above the treetops again. There were two days in a single day.

What's even more astonishing is that when the gentle sunlight rose again from the east, the world before them had changed. To be precise, the ancient battlefield had changed. The war fog that had lingered over the ancient battlefield vanished in an instant, and the violent lightning that had been swirling above it also disappeared. The sky became clear and tranquil once more, and when the fog dissipated, the land that had been hidden for so long was revealed.

Surprisingly, the ancient battlefield was not a vast desert, but an endless green expanse. It was a place that humans had not set foot in for a long time. Without human interference or even animals, it had become a paradise for plants. Despite the lack of sunlight, the vegetation absorbed the nutrients of war and grew wildly on the ancient battlefield, nourished by spiritual energy. When the mist dissipated, it resembled a paradise on earth.

“I thought this place would never be restored to its original state. I kept thinking about using the ancient battlefield as a barrier between us and other countries. As long as the ancient battlefield exists, other countries will not be able to attack us, while we can attack them,” Joan of Arc said.

"The ancient battlefield is actually a wound of the seven kingdoms, but it is not only theirs, but also ours. As long as the ancient battlefield exists, the wound will be difficult to heal."

After a pause, Aaron said, "Actually, it's not just their wounds, it's ours too, both of our wounds. So, I'm sorry, Jeanne, can I say something?"

"What...do you want to say?" Joan of Arc, who was always invincible in the eyes of the people and fearless of any power in the world, was now trembling violently, looking at Aaron with a fearful expression.

"Although it may seem despicable or even immoral to say this now, since our relationship is that of teacher and student, I still have to say that my feelings for you... are not just those of teacher and student... I also like you."

“Teacher…” Joan stared at Aaron, almost unable to believe the words she was hearing. For a few moments, she even thought she had misheard. Was this really her teacher speaking to her? Was she dreaming?

Tears streamed down Joan of Arc's face. Something that had never happened even in the most difficult times had now occurred, and she was crying.

Contrary to her expectations, she didn't immediately rush into her teacher's arms and accept his offer. In an instant, an extremely complex emotion filled her heart: relief, regret, surprise, and bitterness. The thing she had been pursuing for so many years had finally been answered. It was a bittersweet feeling of something hard to come by, a feeling of disbelief. Thousands of unspeakable emotions, fermented over the years and almost forgotten by her, fermented together in her heart at this moment, causing a magical chemical reaction.

Joan of Arc felt like she had become that little girl in the village many years ago again. She didn't understand what she was thinking, or what she was feeling. An instinctive urge to cry her heart out, along with an overwhelming sense of guilt, suddenly surged into her heart.

“But I…but I…” she choked out, “But do I…do I really deserve happiness? I almost killed my teacher more than once…I always sought to be pampered and protected by her, without wanting to take any responsibility. Even now, I’m still forcing myself on her, yet I’ve done so many things to hurt her…I…I always thought she was dead and would never come back to me…”

“I know, I know all of this. Do you remember the first time we met? You were locked in a cage, you were tied to the stake. I’ve seen all your worst moments, but including those, including what you went through in Asgard, and even you now, I love you. These aren’t just simple feelings, but when they come together, the answer is the same.”

"You are the person I care about most in the world. Just as you couldn't accept my death, I also can't accept a world without you. These are feelings that can only be understood after loss. There is no doubt that it is my true heart, Joan of Arc. I like... I think I love you."

"But...but...can someone as ugly as me...as irresponsible as me...as dark as me...really get...really get a teacher's love without resorting to force?"

"Including these... I like them all."

"It's not just that, not only after I grew up, but even when I was little, I already had this idea. In order to stay by the teacher's side, I did a lot of things. In order to make the teacher's attention focus only on me, I did a lot of things that the teacher didn't know about... I even hurt people who had nothing to do with us... Even so..."

"I really didn't know about these things..." Aaron was stunned, but in the end he could only give a bitter smile. "These things are just my fault for not disciplining you properly. What's that saying again? A child's disobedience is mostly due to the parents' lack of discipline. But since you've already become like this, there's nothing I can do. I can only try to correct you slowly from now on."

"me……"

“Joan of Arc…what do you think? You can’t keep making me confess my feelings while you don’t give me any response,” Aaron said.

"Can I...can I really have my teacher's love? To have all of her love to myself? To not have to share it with anyone else? After going through so much...can I really find happiness? Someone like me..."