Sellen's research had continued for an entire day. Time passed without anyone noticing, and the sky shifted with it, from black to white, then from white back to black again.
Throughout that long process, Nolan had assisted Sellen and offered guidance based on his own experience.
When night fell once more, Sellen finally completed her research. She lay down on the bed and quickly sank into a deep sleep.
Nolan sat up and, while he was at it, covered his sleeping teacher properly.
The gap between ordinary people and Demigods was indeed enormous. Even though Sellen was a top-tier champion-level Sorcerer, she still found it difficult to withstand Nolan's powerful offensive.
A few minutes after Sellen fell asleep, Nolan still felt full of energy, as if what he had just gone through had not been an intense battle, but an easy stroll.
He slowly stood, walked over to pick up his clothes from the floor, then took a notebook from his spirit ring and placed it gently on the bedside table.
The notebook recorded the casting method and related theory for the sorcery "Worldfall."
For someone with absolutely no interest in research, writing something like this had already taken a great deal of effort.
When he had studied sorcery at the Academy of Magic, all he had done was memorize the theoretical foundations. Asking him to write an academic paper on his own was pure torment.
This was the compensation he had prepared for Sellen. "Worldfall" was based on "Fleeting Microcosm," while the latter was a sorcery created by simulating the universe.
He believed the knowledge and techniques involved would all interest Sellen.
Even if that starry sky was only false, he still hoped it could bring Sellen some comfort.
If Sellen refused to accept this gesture, he had even considered simply taking her into the sky for a flight.
After all, his brother-in-law loved playing Meteor Impact so much. Nolan could absolutely take Sellen along and imitate those little stars in the heavens.
Of course, if he did that, since Sellen had not become a seed of the stars, he might need to prepare a new body for her after they returned.
Now, everything was much simpler. Nolan's compensation had satisfied Sellen greatly, and incidentally satisfied Nolan as well. A happy ending for everyone.
Nolan slowly turned and looked toward the door, his gaze fixed there without moving.
Before him, motes of light began to gather, as if drawn together by some mysterious force.
Finally, when all the motes had coalesced, all Nolan saw was a young girl with faintly flushed cheeks.
If the other knights had seen that shy expression, they would certainly have found it very unusual. Melina was the sort of person who might as well have "I am a block of wood" written across her face.
Normally, such a flushed little face could only be seen at night, and even then, only a very few lucky people would ever witness it.
Nolan was one of them. Others might rarely see this expression of hers, but to Nolan, it was all too familiar. One glance was enough for him to know the girl had done something bad.
Nolan slowly walked up to Melina and said with a half-smile, "You watched all day again. You really do have endurance."
Hearing this, Melina shifted her gaze away slightly and replied rather unnaturally, "I didn't want to watch. But there was nothing I could do. Mother's power keeps me from going too far from you."
Nolan rolled his eyes. He did not believe the girl's nonsense at all. There was indeed a distance limit between them, but it was not so strict that they had to stay glued together every step of the way.
He lightly patted Melina on the shoulder and said casually, "Go outside and have a look. What's causing such a commotion?"
At those words, Melina turned around as if granted a pardon and quickly walked out the door.
Before long, she hurried back with a grave expression and reported to Nolan, "There is a group of Black Knife Assassins and Church Confessors facing off outside. Our people have been surrounded by them."
Have assassins become this arrogant now?
Nolan paused in surprise, inwardly astonished.
Other assassins relied on stealth and ambush, but these two groups were making a scene right outside his door. They were simply treating him as if he were not their Lord at all.
So what if they were top-tier assassins?
Even so, Nolan's doubts did not immediately fade.
He had expected these two groups to come for his life, but why were they locked in a standoff right outside his room?
Could it be that the Black Knife had been instructed by Marika to come and defect to him?
The thought flashed through Nolan's mind. It seemed a little absurd, but after thinking it over carefully, it was not entirely impossible.
The more Nolan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. But right now, he did not have much time to consider it.
His Numen maidens were still blocked at the door and trembling.
In that brief moment of thought, Nolan swiftly put on his armor.
In the blink of an eye, his entire body became like a star cluster, turning into a dense cloud of magical mist before dispersing.
Miriam's Vanishing.
Melina vanished from the room as well, appearing outside in the blink of an eye. Through the pitch-black fog, the two sides facing each other could still be seen faintly.
Melina's gaze fell involuntarily on the tall woman in black soft armor.
Her figure appeared and disappeared within the dense fog, yet she gave off an aura that made the heart tremble.
Melina stared at her, and a strange feeling rose within her.
She knew that her combat skills came from these Black Knife Assassins, but truthfully, she did not have even the slightest memory of them now.
Alecto seemed to sense that gaze. She instinctively turned her head, trying to see through the black fog enveloping everyone and make out what was happening outside.
But it was a special barrier formed by the prayers of the Church Confessors. Even with Alecto's eyesight, she could hardly pierce it and see the world beyond.
Alecto frowned slightly. She decided not to wait any longer and to act herself.
If possible, she hoped that after completing the mission, she could take those kin behind her away as well.
She wanted to know where they had come from, why they were here, and even more, how many of her surviving kin remained.
Just as Alecto was about to turn around, she suddenly felt a hand rest lightly on her shoulder.
The touch was gentle, yet it made every hair on her body stand on end. Immediately after, a man's voice sounded beside her ear.
"You've worked hard. Leave the rest to me."
That overly familiar tone did not relax Alecto at all. On the contrary, her body stiffened sharply. She slowly turned her head, and her gaze fell on the man standing behind her.
She recognized that face. It was their target on this mission: the Tarnished Lord, Nolan Bethel.
A monster feared even by the Two Fingers, said to threaten the safety of the entire Dynasty and even the whole of the Lands Between.
And now, that monster was standing right behind her, close enough to touch.
What frightened Alecto even more was that she had no idea when he had gotten behind her.
For an assassin, this was undoubtedly a failure.
An assassin should hide in the dark, approach the target without a sound, and end the target's life with a single strike.
Yet now, without realizing it, she had been controlled by her target instead, like a little cookie caught in a giant's hand, ready to be crushed and tossed into his mouth at any moment.
No wonder even Radahn had lost to him. That Demigod's legacy had likely been absorbed completely. They were now facing a monarch closer to the throne than anyone else.