I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

"The trial can end now."

silence.

There was no response from inside the arena.

Eileen looked nervously at Lynn, then glanced around, but nothing had happened.

“Lynn…”

"Wait a moment."

There was an extra person in the stands of the arena, someone I didn't know had appeared at some point.

The person sat on the highest stone seat, one leg casually crossed over the other, wearing a large, dark cloak with the hood pulled low, obscuring their face.

But Lynn could see that beneath the hood, a pair of pale golden eyes were quietly watching him.

Lynn's pupils suddenly contracted.

Those golden eyes curved into a smile.

Then, that person spoke.

"I didn't expect that you would stay true to yourself in the end."

The sound was very soft and faint, like the wind blowing through the strings of a musical instrument.

"I thought you would kill this girl at this crucial moment."

Lynn glanced at Eileen instinctively.

Eileen was still standing there, but her expression... was off.

She did not react.

Her gaze was fixed on Lynn, completely unaware that there was an extra person in the stands, and completely oblivious to the voice.

It's as if... that person never existed.

“She can’t see me, and she can’t hear me.” The owner of the golden eyes seemed to see through Lynn’s doubts, and said with a helpless tone, “Don’t worry, she’s fine.”

Lynn withdrew his gaze and looked back at the top of the stands.

"who are you?"

The other party did not answer directly, but stood up from the stone seat.

The next second, his figure disappeared from the stands and then appeared in front of Lynn without warning.

At close range, Lynn could see more details.

The figure beneath the cloak was very thin, and the golden eyes stood out conspicuously in the shadow of the hood, like two polished pieces of amber.

“Let me answer one of your questions first,” the man said. “Gremond didn’t bring you in to choose a successor.”

"He did this so that all his successors would die here."

Lynn's mind went blank for a moment.

"what?"

“You heard me right. From the very beginning, Grimmund’s goal was not to choose a new fool. He wanted all his successors to die.”

Lynn frowned.

"why?"

"Because the current Fool is his son."

"The appearance of a successor means that the current Fool is about to perish," the man continued. "The rules of the Kingdom's will are simple: when the current Guardian's power declines to a critical point, a successor will be chosen. Once all the successors are in place, the trial begins, a new Guardian is born, and the old Guardian... will die completely."

“So Grimmund wants all his successors to die in the trials,” Lynn continued. “Without successors, there will be no new fools, and his children won’t have to die.”

"Yes."

Lynn took a deep breath, suppressing her surging emotions.

“But that doesn’t make sense either.” He frowned. “Even if Grimmund controlled the trial, there would still be one successor left in the end. How could all ten of them possibly die when they kill each other?”

"Good question."

The mysterious man raised his hand and pointed to the bandaged corpse on the arena floor.

"The answer lies with him."

Lynn followed his finger and saw the bandaged monster's corpse lying there quietly. The bandages had come undone after death, revealing the crystal-clear body beneath.

“His name is Maurice, a physician in the royal city.” There was a slight emotional fluctuation in the man’s voice. “Three years ago, he was chosen by the kingdom’s will as its successor. He is a good man, a truly good man. He will treat the poor for free and will go to villages where the plague has broken out without hesitation.”

"and then?"

"Then the church found him."

“Greymond took advantage of his kindness and tricked him into the church’s alchemy laboratory under the pretense of contributing to the kingdom. Over three years, through countless modifications, he transformed a living person into an alchemical creature.”

Lynn stared at the crystal corpse on the ground, deeply shocked.

"An alchemical creature?"

"Yes, his body is no longer flesh and blood, but an alchemical crystal that has been forcibly transformed."

“This transformation is irreversible and has a time limit.” The man’s voice became very soft. “Even if he kills all his successors and becomes the last one alive, he will die within a few days due to the deterioration of alchemy.”

"By then, all the successors will be dead, and no one will be able to inherit the position of the Fool, so Grimmund's children will be able to continue living."

Lynn remained silent for a long time.

He recalled the scene when he first saw the bandaged monster in the dungeon, the eyes peeking out from the gaps in the bandages, calm and devoid of any emotion.

Looking back now, he must have lost control of his body.

"But thankfully you appeared." The man's tone was tinged with relief. "An unexpected variable that Greymond hadn't anticipated."

“Besides you, all the successors were given [Eighth-Order Protective Charm] by Grimmund before entering the trial, which can isolate them from all external mental interference.”

"Including your interference?"

“Including mine.” The man nodded. “I can’t influence them, I can’t guide them, I can’t make them see each other’s past and future.”

"In this world constructed by the will of the kingdom, since neither the physical body nor the soul can intervene, I can only watch helplessly as they kill each other."

Lynn recalled the moment when Eileen's memories were forcibly implanted into his mind.

"So you can influence me because Grymond didn't cast a protective charm on me."

“The highest level of protective charm spells require a considerable amount of preparation time, and since you are the last successor sent in, he simply didn’t have a chance to cast it on you.”

"Moreover, in his eyes, you are just a level 30 warlock." The man tilted his head slightly. "The other successors are at least level 40. After you come in, you will die if you encounter anyone. A successor who is destined to be eliminated will not cause any trouble at all."

Lynn's lips twitched.

It seems that no matter who you look at him, he's just a deliveryman.

“Unfortunately, he overlooked one thing.” The man looked at Lynn, his golden eyes reflecting Lynn’s image. “You are not an ordinary level 30 warlock. You have sirens, unicorns, an invisibility cloak, and more importantly… you have a heart of pure goodness.”

Lynn met those golden eyes and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he asked the question he had wanted to ask from the very beginning.

"who are you?"

The man did not answer immediately.

He raised his hand and slowly took off his hood.

Beneath the cloak was a sickly, handsome face.

Her skin was so pale it was almost transparent, as if it had never been exposed to sunlight.

Her features were so exquisite they seemed unreal, yet they possessed a beauty that seemed as if they might shatter at any moment.

Her long, pure white hair cascaded over her shoulders, gleaming faintly in the dim light of the arena.

Those pale golden eyes were now calmly watching Lynn.

He was very young, looking even a few years younger than Lynn, but the depth in his eyes was as if he had lived for hundreds of years.

"My name is Xi'an."

He smiled slightly, a rare gentleness appearing on his pale face.

"You can also call me a fool."

Chapter Ninety-Three: Fate

Lynn's brain went blank for a while.

The current Fool.

One of the kingdom's ten guardians now stands before him.

And he looks younger than him.

"You say you're a fool?" Lynn's voice was a little hoarse.

“Mm.” Sian nodded.

Lynn wanted to say something, but his mind was a complete mess.

“I know you might be surprised.” Sian looked at Lynn’s expression and smiled slightly. “But let me tell you a story first.”

He turned around, walked to the stone steps at the edge of the arena, and sat down casually.

The large, dark cloak spread out behind him, making him appear even thinner.

Lynn hesitated for a moment, then followed.

He glanced back at Eileen, who was still standing there, her expression blank, as if a pause button had been pressed.

"She's fine, she's just temporarily deprived of her senses, she'll recover once I leave."

Lynn nodded and sat down next to Sian, maintaining a safe distance.

“I was born to be the successor,” Sian began. “And because of that, I received a great deal of support from my father.”

“Father?” Lynn frowned. “Greymond is the archbishop; it’s not like people from the church can’t…”

"Can't have children?" Sian picked up the conversation, chuckled, "Yes, high-ranking clergy in the church have a vow of celibacy, so I am an illegitimate child."

Linn was silent.

“But Grimmund was very good to me,” Sian continued, her voice soft, as if recalling something from a long time ago. “At least when I was a child, he was a…good father.”

"He taught me to read, to use magic, to use swordsmanship, and to survive in this world."

"At the same time, he was also training me to become the next Fool."

“Gremond knew the rules of the trial better than anyone else, so he started preparing for it when I was a baby.”

"He wants me to win."

“To make my son the guardian of the kingdom,” Lynn murmured.

“Yes.” Sian nodded. “In his view, this is the best arrangement for me. Guardians have power and status far beyond ordinary people. They will not be bullied by anyone, and they will not be as shameful as if they were his illegitimate son.”

“It sounds… kind of touching,” Lynn said, but with a clear hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Sian did not refute, but continued, "Three years ago, the trial began, and seven successors, including myself, were sent into the same closed space as you."

"But that trial was different from this one."

"What's different?"

"The trials that year were not conducted in this kind of closed little world."

"The training grounds are located in a frozen wasteland in the northern part of the kingdom."

“In other words…” Lynn’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"In other words, Greymond can observe us and even intervene from the outside."

Sian looked up at Lynn.

"But I didn't know any of that at the time."

"All I know is that when the trial began, I backed down when faced with those successors who were armed and filled with murderous intent."