Noah ran after Eyolian, following her trail, which was now far ahead. The trees grew denser as he delved deeper into the forest. But that wasn’t a concern in his soul form—he could simply pass through them.

  However, Noah only did so when absolutely necessary, for reasons that bothered only him.

  He weaved through the trees at a speed his human body could never achieve, yet even at this pace, Eyolian was still pulling away.

  ‘She’s really fast!’ Noah thought, but he wasn’t worried. His soul senses had already locked onto her earlier. As long as he remained in his soul form, he could find her.

  Once again, the trees around him thinned out, leaving a respectable space between them, until Noah found himself in another clearing.

  But this time, unlike at the Adventurers’ Guild, a vast silver lake stretched across the area. The reflection of the sky, tainted with the faint red hues of Lady Elara’s attack, shimmered on its surface.

  Noah took in the entire scene until his eyes landed on Eyolian, standing on the opposite side of the lake, scanning her surroundings with extreme caution—probably searching for him.

  But she wouldn’t see him in his soul form… unless he wanted her to.

  Noah gave the thought a second before deciding to reveal himself.

  In the next instant, Eyolian’s eyes locked onto him. At first, she frowned, but her expression quickly shifted to shock and disbelief.

  She took a step back, only to regain her composure just as quickly. Then, she looked at Noah with clear displeasure—perhaps even hatred.

  ‘She really doesn’t trust me at all,’ Noah thought.

  But that didn’t matter now. His eyes moved to the figure in black clothing lying at her feet. A hungry smile spread across his face.

  Noah floated over the lake, approaching slowly so as not to startle Eyolian. But she only looked more shocked, her hand tightening around her sword.

  After all, she could barely fly for short periods, yet before her, Noah—who was barely awakened, if one can even consider him to be—was floating effortlessly.

  The moment his feet touched the ground again, standing just a few meters from her, Eyolian scowled.

  "You promised you wouldn’t do this with your soul again!" she said, nearly drawing her sword.

  Noah only smiled. For a moment, he thought she would ask about his strange state—her earlier shock had hinted at it. But she only cared about herself. Why would she care about him?

  Noah opened his mouth to speak.

  "I’m sorry," his voice was an ethereal whisper, more like an echo than a sound. "But I had to do this. There are certain things I need to understand. And I have a feeling that your disguise as the enemy is for the same reason. We can help each other."

  "I don’t care about your reasons. You didn’t honor our agreement. Why should I ever trust you again?" Eyolian said through clenched teeth. She was truly angry. What Noah had done felt like a violation of her privacy. She couldn’t trust him anymore.

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  "I really am sorry," Noah repeated, his head lowered. He genuinely looked remorseful. He didn’t want to justify his actions—that would only anger her further.

  Eyolian watched him for long seconds, but even she had to calm down. She would have time to deal with him—and she would. She wouldn’t let this go unpunished. But now wasn’t the right moment.

  "So, what do you want with this weakling?... Also, what the hell are you?!" she said, still pretending to be angry, even though she wasn’t. She just wanted Noah to understand that he wasn’t off her blacklist yet—and he would stay there for a long time.

  Noah lifted his head to look at her, smiling again. Finally, she was willing to talk logically.

  "I was born this way. I don’t know much about myself either," Noah answered, not wanting to provoke her further. He turned his gaze to the unconscious man. "And I hope this man will teach me something useful."

  Eyolian scowled again, deeper this time. Noah was lying to her—blatantly.

  Did he think she was stupid? That she would forget so easily?

  She still remembered how he had spoken fondly of his mother. How could he not know about himself, yet know about his mother? It made no sense, which meant he was lying.

  "You really don’t want to lie to me. It won’t end well for you. And yes, that’s a threat!"

  Noah stared at her for a long second. He wanted to explain himself, but that would take forever. So instead, he pointed at the man in black and said, "This man is a vessel for divine energy. I don’t know how that’s possible, whether he controls it or if it controls him, but I want to find out. Anything else, you can ask me later. For now, I won’t take your threat to heart, alright?"

  Eyolian frowned, but not because of his dismissal—rather, because of what he had just declared.

  He was right. Something like this shouldn’t be possible. Not after the death of the kingdom’s god.

  ‘Could this man be a Seer?’ Eyolian thought, but she had no way to confirm it. She didn’t even believe Noah’s words entirely.

  She lifted her head to ask him, only to find Noah looking at her with unusual curiosity. He beat her to the question.

  "You know something. Did you discover anything when you infiltrated their ranks? Tell me!" Noah said eagerly.

  Eyolian scowled at him. She didn’t like being given orders. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell him what little she knew before he shared his own knowledge.

  ‘How does he even know this man has divine energy, as he calls it?’ she wondered but didn’t voice her thoughts. Instead, she took another approach.

  "Don’t give me orders when you seem to know more than me. So please, share with me first."

  Eyolian almost hated herself the moment the words left her mouth.

  Why did she have to take this approach? She hated this part of her personality.

  Noah looked at her for a long second before giving up on questioning her.

  She kept her secrets too close. And why shouldn’t he do the same?

  For a time, he had truly thought she would make a good ally—but he had been mistaken.

  "Since you want to be the difficult girl, I’ll do the same. And I have nothing to tell you." Noah said, equally frustrated.

  This Eyolian really knew how to get on his nerves—more than he liked.

  "I was the one who captured him!" Eyolian snapped, practically yelling at him.

  Her face was red with anger—at Noah and at herself for pushing things to this point. But she couldn’t back down now. She had too much pride for that.

  "And you will tell me why—or at least what you find out from him. You have no other choice, you floating piece of crap!"

  Noah’s eyes turned cold, and that chill only intensified in his soul form.

  "You’re really childish, despite all the power you wield. But I do owe you that much. I’ll tell you what I find out—and only that!"

  Without waiting for a response, Noah knelt beside the man, not wanting to drag the matter out any further.

  If Eyolian decided not to let him investigate just because she was the one who captured the man, Noah wouldn’t be able to argue.

  And he needed to learn more about divine energy—how it worked and how to control it.

  Eyolian clenched her fists but said nothing. She didn’t want to push the matter further either.

  For now, there was nothing she could do to fix their already fragile relationship. And it was her fault.

  Her arrogance had always been her weakness—one she had never found a solution for.

  She simply watched as Noah revealed the man’s face.

  The moment she saw it, Eyolian took a few steps back, shock written all over her face.

  ‘How… is this possible?!’