"So, what you're saying is that you personally killed the Creator of this world," Ancient One said after a long pause, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. "And now you expect me to clean up the mess?"
"I was just doing what was right," Fang Mo defended himself, spreading his hands. "He was a cunning villain who didn't even care about his own creations..."
And, in fact, Fang Mo wasn't lying.
Carloso truly acted this way.
According to the lore, the Great Will was largely indifferent to the deaths of most living beings. The cycle of this world revolved around him—everything was born from the original Great Will and would eventually return to it.
To Carloso, existence and destruction were not particularly different. He wouldn't actively kill these beings, nor would he go out of his way to save them. The existence of the Great Will was for more exalted and significant purposes, not for caring about the lives of mere ants.
The result was clear.
Under the attack of Fang Mo's Creation Spike Block, Carloso was annihilated, and all those lofty goals lost their meaning.
"This is the first time I've heard you call someone else a cunning villain," Ancient One sighed with evident resignation after hearing Fang Mo's explanation. "Alright, what do you need me to do?"
"The crust of Arad has been blown apart, and over here, and there… basically, several massive holes have been punched through the Empyrean Realm's continental shelf. Finally, the grand magic array beneath the Sky Sea needs to be repaired too. Oh, and the atmosphere has some leaks as well—figure out how to patch that up," Fang Mo said, casually pointing in several directions.
"…"
Ancient One's face darkened after hearing this.
"Here, your payment," Fang Mo said, pulling out a ring from behind his back. "If you do the work, I'll let you borrow this ring for a while."
"And what is this?" Ancient One looked down at the ring in Fang Mo's palm. It was made of a bluish-gray stone material, looking quite ancient, with strange golden inscriptions faintly visible on the inner band. There was an immense amount of energy contained within.
"The Supreme Magic Ring," Fang Mo said with a completely serious expression. "Perfect for the Sorcerer Supreme to wear…"
"What have you sealed inside this ring?" As expected of the Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One's keen eyes quickly assessed the situation. "The energy inside this ring feels similar to the magic power of the sorcerers from Kamar-Taj. Is it a magic user from this world?"
"Oh, this one's named Hilder," Fang Mo replied after thinking for a moment. "You could think of her as a kind of magical ancestor. She's the one who created this world's natural elemental magic system… In fact, she's probably older than you. She's a thoroughly vile, ancient magic-user."
"You didn't have to specify that," Ancient One interrupted.
"I just didn't want you to feel bad about using it," Fang Mo shrugged. "She's far more malicious than you think and has caused the deaths of many. You can do whatever you like with her."
"Alright, I understand..." Ancient One sighed and then accepted the magic ring from Fang Mo.
Having found someone to do the cleanup, Fang Mo was once again free to leave, happily leaving the area without a care.
Afterward, Fang Mo quickly typed a couple of messages in the public chat.
He needed to check on his little companion, who was present when he and Carloso were fighting, which had resulted in the complete destruction of Gran Forest. Since the little one's name was still on the server list, Fang Mo wasn't too worried.
As he expected, it didn't take long for a reply to come through the public chat.
According to his little companion, the Quantum Ring on her had blocked the first wave of damage, and she had immediately used a return command to head back to the Minecraft world, not sticking around on the battlefield for long.
This response allowed Fang Mo to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Even though his little companion could respawn as a player and the server was set to not drop items upon death, Fang Mo still didn't want to see her die.
Having confirmed that the little demon was safe, Fang Mo used an Ender Shift to teleport directly back to the palace in Ghent.
His original plan was just to recruit Anton, and dealing with Carloso was purely incidental. If Hilder hadn't caused trouble in advance, Fang Mo might have even taken a break in the Empyrean Realm after subduing Anton, perhaps spending some time with Princess Erje.
Hilder might have lived a bit longer if she hadn't acted prematurely.
But unfortunately for her, she moved too soon, and Fang Mo ended up turning her into a battery.
Now that the greatest threats to the Arad Continent had been eliminated, Fang Mo finally relaxed.
He had spent a lot of time first at the Energy Center, making promises to Anton, and then beating up Hilder in Arad and killing Carloso… all of which took up quite a bit of his time. By the time he returned to the palace, it was completely dark, and Fang Mo arrived just in time for dinner.
However, calling it a dinner was a bit of a stretch.
It wasn't the grand royal banquet one might expect. It was more of a private meal between the princess and an adventurer.
Fang Mo glanced at the table and saw only a few simple dishes—a soup made of grains, two plates of greens, and some meat dishes. It was a modest spread, but the food didn't look particularly refined and seemed a bit rough. It probably didn't taste as good as one might expect.
"Isn't this supposed to be the royal palace?"
Fang Mo couldn't help but complain as soon as he returned. "So, this is what my princess eats for dinner?"
"…I apologize, sir," the princess replied, startled by Fang Mo's sudden appearance on the table. But she quickly explained, "The palace is still under repair, and many of the original facilities are not operational. Even food supplies are somewhat scarce."
"Can't you at least give a heads-up before you pop in?" Summon's tone was much less friendly than Erje's. "What do you mean, 'my princess'? Get off the table… we're trying to eat here."
"I'm not eating this stuff," Fang Mo said, jumping off the table and settling into a chair before looking at Summon. "Administrator, go cook me up a couple of dishes."
"If you're not eating, don't make trouble..."
Summon took a deep breath, her small hands clenched tightly.
"Um, sir."
At this point, Princess Erje spoke again, "Just now, we received news from the Eton Industrial Area that the energy-devouring monster has disappeared… Was that your doing?"
"Yeah," Fang Mo casually admitted. "Anton, right? I just had a word with him, and he decided to surrender peacefully."
"Incredible," Erje gasped in surprise, covering her mouth. "They said that monster was nearly invincible. I can't believe you dealt with it. Now, the energy in Ghent is gradually recovering, with only some facilities damaged by the Kallet still in need of repair… You truly are a hero of the Empyrean Realm."
"No big deal," Fang Mo waved his hand, not particularly concerned.
"By the way, sir," Erje continued, "Not long ago, a strong energy fluctuation was detected in the No Man's Land, and the sea level of the Sky Sea has dropped dramatically… Do you know anything about that?"
"That was the aftereffect of my battle with Carloso," Fang Mo replied vaguely. "Don't worry… I've already sent someone to fix it."
"Carloso?"
Erje blinked in confusion.
"Your Creator," Fang Mo shrugged. "He was determined to destroy Arad. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen, so I ended up killing him."
"…Huh?"
Erje seemed completely stunned by this. Although she knew Fang Mo was incredibly powerful, she was still baffled to hear something like this so casually, instinctively thinking he must be joking.
"Oh, and Hilder too," Fang Mo added, turning to Summon. "I also took care of that scheming woman. Congratulations, you're now the world's only Queen of Deception."
"What!?" This time, it was Summon's turn to be shocked. "Is that… really true?"
"Look how happy you are," Fang Mo chuckled. "Now, even if I leave this world, your reputation will be enough to strike fear into everyone."
"…Wait, what?" Summon was suddenly taken aback. "You're leaving this world?"
In fact, it wasn't just her. Even Misha, who had been quietly eating, and Erje, who was still seated, were all surprised, turning their gazes toward Fang Mo.
"Yeah," Fang Mo confirmed. "I've pretty much taken care of all the bosses here. If I stay any longer, it'll just get boring. I'd rather go to another world for a change of pace."
"But that's so sudden."
Summon's expression turned unexpectedly complex. "Didn't you say you were going to accompany me to the Demon Realm?"
"Not anymore," Fang Mo lazily waved his hand. "From the Demon Realm onward, the game's maps just get too repetitive. Since I've already taken care of Hilder, there's no need for me to go there."
"This isn't fair…" Summon seemed somewhat disappointed.
"Hey, don't tell me you've got Stockholm syndrome now?" Fang Mo teased when he saw Summon's reaction. "I've almost driven you crazy, and now that you can finally escape, you don't want to? What's going on with you, Summon-chan?"
"Shut up," Summon snapped, though her voice lacked its usual firmness. "I just think you're unreliable... What did you say when you tricked me into becoming a Summoner? You said I could summon you!"
"Oh, that," Fang Mo said, as if something had just occurred to him. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I almost forgot… I wonder if the Motherly Love module's ability can work across dimensions. If it can, then things could get interesting. I'll look into it later."
"What does that even mean?" Summon asked, clearly not understanding.
"It means that if the bond between two people is strong enough, they can break through dimensions!" Fang Mo declared, striking a pose with a fist. Then he reached out and ruffled Summon's hair. "Anyway, let's eat for now. I won't make you cook anymore, okay?"
The atmosphere at dinner was noticeably off.
However, the group tacitly decided not to talk much more after that.
Once the meal was over, Fang Mo returned to his temporary room to rest and reflect on whether there was anything he had left undone.
This time, his visit to Arad had allowed him to resolve many of his regrets.
He saved those who needed saving, killed those who deserved killing, and especially rescued all the Apostles who had been trapped by Hilder in the original story.
"...Huh? Wait a minute."
But then, Fang Mo suddenly realized something.
"I didn't save two of them," he recalled. "Before the game's storyline even began, Hilder had already set up the deaths of two Apostles."
One was Sirocco, the Apostle of Screams in the Screaming Cavern, and the other was Bakal, the Dragon King who died hundreds of years ago in the Empyrean Realm.
With this in mind, Fang Mo found himself a new objective.
"Before I leave, I should try to resurrect those two as well," he decided, then closed his eyes to rest.
The night passed without incident.
Soon, it was the next day.
Since he hadn't slept well, Fang Mo got up just as dawn was breaking.
He didn't go looking for the two snowmen, instead using an Ender Shift to teleport to the bottom layer of the Sky Sea, where he retrieved his Sea Magic Sword.
Perhaps Ancient One had been here, as the Sea Magic Sword Thesys was no longer absorbing seawater.
Fang Mo stowed the weapon in his storage space and then returned to the Arad Continent via the Sky Sea. He planned to revive the two Apostles early in the day, especially Bakal. Since Bakal had ruled the Empyrean Realm for hundreds of years and was deeply hated by the Empyreans, it wouldn't be appropriate to revive him in Ghent Palace.
After a brief consideration, Fang Mo decided to use the old spot—Sky Tower.
"Sigh, it's the year of the dragon, so I should bring back more dragons," Fang Mo muttered to himself as he summoned his beloved daughter, the Ender Dragon, and began setting up a ritual altar on the ground in preparation for the resurrection.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" the Ender Dragon asked curiously, watching the scene.
"I'm bringing your uncle back to life," Fang Mo replied, casually pulling out a name tag and writing Bakal's name on it. He then opened the Abyssal Book to start the ritual.
Soon, a black light flashed.
Before long, a large, muscular man emerged from the altar.
"Where is this…?" Bakal, who had just been resurrected, seemed disoriented, holding his head as he observed his surroundings. "The scent of magic… Is this Sky Tower? How did I end up here?"
But before he could finish his sentence, he noticed Fang Mo standing nearby.
"You're awake?" Fang Mo approached with a face bearing a dragon emoji and held up the Ender Dragon. "Let me introduce you—this is our child."
"…Huh?"
Bakal was instantly dumbfounded.