I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

The emerald green flames in Alice's eyes gradually subsided. She stumbled and rushed to Lynn's side, her hands trembling and hanging in mid-air, wanting to touch him but not daring to.

"Lynn... how are you?"

"We won't die." Lynn smirked. "But if we don't leave now, we're probably doomed."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a piercing magical alarm sounded from the passageway outside the cell. Red warning lights flashed wildly at the end of the passageway, and the sounds of dense footsteps and clashing armor were rapidly approaching.

“Grab my hand.” Alice took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She grabbed Lynn’s wrist and slammed her other hand into the crack in the ground.

The emerald green flame that had just been extinguished reignited in her eyes.

"Open the ley lines!"

With a low shout from Alice, the entire underground cell trembled violently.

The hard obsidian ground split open like tofu, revealing the deep, dark soil beneath.

Immediately afterwards, two thick green vines burst from the ground, like two giant pythons, instantly wrapping around Lynn and Alice's bodies.

The next second, the vines suddenly shrank downwards, carrying the two of them directly into the depths of the ground.

A deafening roar came from overhead. The pursuers had already stormed into the cell, but they could only helplessly watch the ground close up again and the rubble scattered everywhere.

The journey underground was extremely oppressive and painful. Surrounded by endless darkness, vines carved a path through the soil and rock, the violent jolting exacerbating Lynn's already severe injuries. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress a groan of pain.

Alice noticed Lynn's pain. She struggled to turn around in the cramped space of the vines and placed her hands on Lynn's chest.

A vibrant, emerald-green energy slowly flowed into Lynn's body through her palm.

This power was incredibly miraculous. Lynn could clearly feel his broken ribs healing at an incredible speed, and his damaged internal organs were enveloped in a warm, light-filled membrane, greatly reducing the pain.

"Don't waste your energy," Lynn whispered in the darkness. "Save your strength; we're not out of danger yet."

"I'm fine." Alice stubbornly refused to pull her hand back. "You can help me once you're healed."

Linn was silent.

He could feel Alice trembling. This girl had experienced so much in just a few days, transforming from a naive and timid noblewoman into someone who now held power. But deep down, she was still the same Alice who desperately lacked security and longed for support.

After an unknown amount of time, the vines finally slowed down their movement.

"boom!"

With a dull thud as the earth broke, fresh, crisp air rushed in.

The vines that had been binding the two of them withered and scattered rapidly, and Lynn and Alice fell from mid-air, crashing heavily onto a thick layer of snow.

Lynn rolled on the spot, quickly got up on one knee, and looked around warily.

This was a desolate, snow-covered plain. Looking back, the towering walls of the royal city of Rivendell were already more than ten kilometers away.

They escaped successfully.

Lynn let out a long breath, his tense nerves relaxing slightly.

He turned to look at Alice and found her slumped on the snow. She had clearly pushed herself to her limit by using "Life Deprivation" and "Earth Levitation" in succession.

"Well done." Lynn walked over and extended his hand to her. "Can you stand up by yourself?"

Alice looked at the hand Lynn offered, but didn't immediately take it. She looked up, and her once clear eyes were now churning with extremely complex emotions.

There was the joy of regaining freedom, the confidence of awakened power, but more than anything, there was an almost obsessive longing.

"Lynn." Alice ignored Lynn's hand and stood up on her own, pushing herself up from the snow. "We're not going back, right?"

Lynn frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

“That phoenix told me that there are four other secret realms in this world, each containing the remaining fragments of the Authority.” Alice stepped forward, grabbing Lynn’s arm tightly, her fingers turning white from the force. “Lynn, you see, I have power now. I can kill a level 70 berserker, and I can help you escape from the palace dungeon!”

"As long as we find the remaining four secret realms, as long as I obtain complete authority, I can become a true god! At that time, no one, no Queen Mother or Guardian, can treat us as pawns anymore, and we can be free forever."

"So?" Lynn looked at her, his eyes completely calm.

"So, come with me!" Alice's voice was almost pleading. "Let's go find the secret realm together, just the two of us, okay?"

A cold wind howled between the two.

Lynn looked at the hopeful girl in front of him and sighed softly.

He admitted that Alice's offer was incredibly tempting to some extent. A girl who had awakened to divine authority, if she could fully mature, would undoubtedly be the most powerful woman in the world.

Unfortunately, he couldn't agree.

"No." Lynn shook his head, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"Why... why?"

“You are very strong, Alice.” Lynn pulled his arm away from her grasp. “But I cannot go with you.”

“Enolia is a madwoman. We killed her royal jailer in her dungeon and escaped right under her nose. What do you think she would do if she couldn't find us, given her personality?”

Alice was stunned; she seemed not to have considered this question.

“She will vent all her anger on those who are connected to us.”

Lynn paused for a moment, his mind flashing back to Anna's golden eyes and Lisa's always cold face, yet always standing in front of him at crucial moments.

"I must protect them."

The wind stopped.

Lynn suddenly realized that she couldn't move.

"Crack...knock..."

An extremely faint cracking sound came from behind Lynn.

Lynn struggled to turn his eyes, glancing behind him out of the corner of his eye.

It was a scene that sent chills down his spine.

The ground, which was originally covered with a thick layer of snow, is turning grayish-white at a visible speed.

The snowflakes didn't melt; they turned directly into ashes.

The withered grass, frozen soil, and even rocks several meters below the surface hidden under the snow layer turned into fly ash.

In the heart of this gray and desolate silence, annihilation is slowly approaching.

His pace was not fast, it could even be described as leisurely, but with each step he took, the gray-white wasteland beneath his feet would expand outward by dozens of meters.

"Damn it..." Lynn cursed in despair.

As expected of someone below the gods! How did this person return so quickly?

Didn't Enoria say she had transferred him away from the capital? Why is he here?

"The space still retains the fluctuations of the earth's veins." The voice of the Silence was very soft, without any emotional fluctuation, but it seemed to explode directly in Lynn's mind. "It seems that I came at the right time."

Lynn gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay conscious under the terrifying pressure.

"You are not allowed to touch us."

Alice slammed her hands down on the gray-white ground.

"Life... stripped away!"

Ellie unleashed the power of the divine authority without reservation.

In the desolate wasteland that had been turned into a dead zone, emerald green vines miraculously sprouted.

These vines were thicker than those used against Balk, brimming with a frenzied vitality, sweeping towards annihilation like a tsunami.

Life and desolation, two completely opposite rules, collided violently on this snowfield.

"madness."

As Ji Mie watched the frantically surging green vines, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

“The seed of power is, in the end, just a seed.”

You haven't even grasped the slightest bit of the gods, yet you dare to invoke the rules before me?

Ji Mie didn't even move a step; he simply clenched his raised right hand into a fist.

"Nirvana".

As these two words were uttered, a grayish-white ripple, ten times more terrifying than before, swept out from the center of Annihilation in an instant.

The once-vigorous green vines, upon contact with the grayish-white ripples, seemed to have all their moisture and vitality drained away, instantly turning yellow, shattering, and finally turning into ashes.

Not only that, the gray-white ripples continued their momentum and crashed directly into Alice.

"puff!"

Alice was struck dumb, coughing up a mouthful of blood and falling heavily next to Lynn.

despair.

This was the first time Lynn had felt such pure despair since he had transmigrated to this world.

Even when he was locked in an alley as a cursed child and left to die when he first transmigrated, even when facing a level 80 demigod demon, he had never felt as powerless as he does now.

A level 99 Kingdom Guardian represents the pinnacle that mortals in this world can achieve.

In the face of annihilation, conspiracies, schemes, trump cards, and even the nascent form of divine authority all become laughable struggles.

"You are indeed very capable to have turned the royal palace upside down and even killed Balk." The voice of the silence remained flat, and Lynn's face, twisted with rage, was reflected in the gray eyes. "But, this ends here."

Silent Extinction slowly extended a finger, pointing it at Alice, who was lying on the verge of death in Lynn's arms.

“The seed of power cannot die. Her Majesty the Queen Mother still needs her to continue the royal bloodline.”

A grayish-white light shot out from the tip of the fingertip of the Silence and accurately entered Alice's forehead.

Alice's body trembled violently, and the faintly flickering emerald green flames were completely sealed. She groaned and fainted.

"What did you do to her!" Lynn roared, trying to shield Alice with his body.

"I merely sealed away her pitiful amount of power and authority, and incidentally let her take a nap." Silence withdrew her hand. "As for you..."

An extinguished gaze fell on Lynn, and the look of disdain made Lynn feel nauseous.

"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager said she wanted them alive, but she didn't say they had to be intact."

As soon as Ji Mie finished speaking, Lynn suddenly felt the space around him shrink inward.

He didn't even see how Ji Mie made his move before an unparalleled force slammed into his chest.

"Crack, crack..."

With a cracking sound, Lynn's sternum caved in instantly.

He was blasted away by the immense force, coughing up a mouthful of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily into a huge rock.

The rock shattered, and Lynn slid to the ground like a lump of mud.

pain.

Lynn felt as if his internal organs had been shattered, and every breath he took was filled with the strong smell of blood. His vision began to blur, and his consciousness was rapidly slipping away.

“You… madman…” Lynn coughed up blood as he cursed in an extremely weak voice.

Ignoring Lynn's curses, he walked to the unconscious Alice and lifted her up like a chick. Then, he turned and glanced at Lynn.

"To survive one of my attacks, you're more resilient than I expected. But that doesn't change anything."

Jimie raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The gray-white wasteland surrounding Lynn suddenly churned, transforming into several thick gray chains that tightly bound Lynn's limbs and neck. The icy aura emanating from the chains instantly sealed off the last remaining trace of magic within Lynn's body.

"Let's go. Let's go see Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

The sound of annihilation drifted away in the wind. Then, the space in front of him distorted, and Lynn felt a dizzying sensation as the intense weightlessness caused him to faint.

……

When Lynn regained consciousness, he found himself lying face down on the marble floor.

The blinding magical light made it hard for him to open his eyes, and the air was filled with a luxurious yet oppressive scent of incense.

Lynn moved his fingers with difficulty and found that his fractures had been roughly set and his fatal wounds had been treated, but not out of kindness, but to make him consciously feel the pain.

The heavy Starry Silver Shackles once again bound his hands and feet, and they were even heavier than the ones in the dungeon.

Lynn suppressed the dizziness in her head and slowly raised her head.

This is the council chamber of the royal palace.