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The Kingmaker, as Sia’s most favored child, was to inherit a portion of Her powers. However, the plan went awry, as the powers Sia had severed for the Kingmaker gained a sense of self and came to be the Savior.

Just like how a usurper would desire the death of the one whose place they took, the Savior fervently wished for the extinction of the Kingmaker Clan.

When the Mother Goddess was a threat, the Savior cooperated with the Kingmaker Clan with a warm smile reminiscent of the sun, proclaiming that they were brothers from the same Mother. But as soon as the Savior claimed the upper hand over the Mother Goddess, He ripped off His disguise and began massacring the Kingmaker Clan.

He saw the Kingmaker Clan as a threat, in terms of both legitimacy and potential.

The power of the Kingmaker Clan directly originated from Sia. While it was not at the same caliber as the Mother Goddess and the Savior, it had a high level of resistance against them, and it had the potential to develop a step further.

That was why the Savior went after the Kingmaker Clan. Little did he know that his actions changed the power balance of the world, creating hope for the Kingmaker Clan’s survival.

The falling out between the Savior and the Kingmaker Clan ironically created a stable three-sided power struggle.

The Savior sought to destroy the Mother Goddess and the Kingmaker Clan so as to reinforce His position as the ruler of the world.

The Mother Goddess opposed the Savior’s rule, but at the same time, She was left with nothing but hatred for the Kingmaker Clan after the latter’s continued betrayal of Her trust.

The Kingmaker Clan had a blood feud with the Savior, but there was no longer any hope of reconciliation with the Mother Goddess after what they had done.

The Kingmaker Clan looked to be in a dangerous position, having turned the two supreme gods into their enemies, but this ironically saved them too. The three-sided power struggle had resulted in the Savior and the Mother Goddess tying each other down.

In the end, the Kingmaker Clan suffered a heavy blow, but it managed to survive the ordeal.

And after the Savior and the Mother Goddess went into hibernation, the Kingmaker Clan proved to be a thorn in the Savior’s back. Their resistance against the Savior’s madness and depravity allowed them to seal the Savior’s soul in the Abyss.

And this became the foundation behind Charles Ackermann’s revised version of the final plan.

Any humans involved in the Diffusion Plan were doomed to eventually lose their minds and descend into depravity, but awakeners of the Kingmaker Bloodline were less susceptible to that. Their powers shared the same origin as the Savior’s and the Black Moon, which allowed them to better resist the madness.

“But the resistance isn’t absolute,” Roel remarked, as he thought about his previous encounter with the Savior. “It’ll be hard for us to retain our sanity when exposed to a large quantity of it.”

“Indeed, but Carolyn and Charles thought of that too. That’s why there’s the armor.”

“Armor?”

Roel blinked in surprise before suddenly recalling the glowing armor Paul was wearing. If he wasn’t mistaken, Carolyn had been wearing something similar.

Traveling to the Abyss was practically an act of suicide. Someone as practical as Carolyn wouldn’t be dressed in couple’s attire when heading to such a place. There had to be another reason for it.

“Is there something special about the armor Carolyn wore?”

“Of course. Charles specially created the armor. It’s an imitation of the holy armor Sia wore in the holy war during the earlier years of creation. It was created via the Kingdom Origin Attribute using a fragment of the real thing as a medium.”

“What? The real thing?!” Roel was taken aback.

He looked at the now-tattered armor and felt his blood pressure rising. He suddenly felt so giddy that he nearly fainted.

Anything from the era of the world’s creation, even a mere rock, would have been a priceless treasure to historians in the present era, let alone armor Sia had worn before. Not even the Theocracy’s holy artifacts could compete with it.

And Roel actually smashed something this invaluable into pieces.

He couldn’t come to terms with what he had done. Using an analogy from his previous life, it was as if he had taken a dump and desperately clawed for the closest thing to wipe his bottom, only to realize that it was the original Mona Lisa painting.

“It’s a real fragment of Sia’s armor. The real thing. From the creation of the world. Why didn’t she say a word? If she had just mentioned it…” Roel murmured in a trance.

“R-Roel?” Astrid was taken aback.

Antonio heaved a sigh, feeling deeply pained by this grievous loss as a fellow scholar.

He was awed by how far Charles had gone, as he knew that Sia’s divine armor was a national treasure back in the Ancient Austine Empire, protecting the emperor of every generation. It was of great historical value to the Ackermanns.

Yet, Charles used it just like that in order to protect Carolyn.

Granted that it was necessary for the final plan, but Antonio was confident that there were elements of personal bias involved as well, particularly his feelings for Carolyn.

“Calm down, Roel…” Antonio patted the horrified Roel’s shoulder and spent a while gently consoling him before he finally managed to drag him back to the main topic at hand.

Upon learning the truth, Roel finally understood how Carolyn had remained safe throughout the years.

It was possible that Carolyn, with her bloodline resistance, her unwavering will, and Sia’s divine armor, could resist the Savior’s depravity and remain sane. At the same time, by absorbing the Savior’s mana, she would gradually grow stronger, hopefully to a point where she could oppose the Mother Goddess and the Savior.

“Even if Carolyn retains her sanity with the aid of the divine armor, the Savior’s depravity and madness would still accumulate, right? That would hasten the wear and tear on the equipment. How did her armor last a thousand years?”

“Charles took that into consideration too. The solution is simple—reverse infusion.”

“Reverse infusion?” Roel suddenly thought of something.

Seeing that, Astrid explained with a smile, “You remember the Diffusion Plan? The Savior would release a huge amount of mana, resulting in him falling into a state of weakness. His released mana would be taken in by the divine armor, granting Carolyn a significant buff in her strength, so much so that she temporarily gains the upper hand against the Savior.

“Carolyn would then exploit this temporary power advantage to reverse the flow of mana back to the Savior, returning the negative elements such as His depravity and madness back to Him. This exchange allows her to offset the negative effects of the Savior’s mana at minimal price.”

“…There’s such a system to the armor?” Roel widened his eyes in astonishment.

He didn’t think that Charles would be so meticulous and skilled as to come up with something like that.

The Savior’s goal for distributing his mana was to thin out the madness from the Black Moon, but Carolyn and Charles were returning His madness back to Him, such that He had to give up a lot of His mana just to release a small bit of His madness. What made things worse was that He couldn’t do anything about Carolyn, as she would sever her connection to the divine artifact as soon as He grasped the upper hand.

It was a despicable way to fight—shamelessly exploiting the Savior when He was weakened, only to escape as soon as He regained His strength.

Only now did Roel fully understand the importance of Charles and Carolyn. Both of them were indispensable to the final plan, be it due to the former’s ability to craft powerful magic tools, or the latter’s overwhelming strength.

Carolyn was so powerful that she struck fear into the hearts of even ancient gods. Only existences of Grandar’s caliber could stand on equal ground with her. She was the only one who had a shot at suppressing the Savior and reversing the flow of mana for the Diffusion Plan.

All of a sudden, Roel had a peculiar feeling.

Two people with a deep-rooted blood feud met each other, and in the midst of fighting for a common goal, they came to understand each other better. Later, they combined their strengths together to formulate this shocking plan. Before they knew it, they had already fallen in love.

It was a miraculous turn of events, almost as if the strings of fate were at play.

This was the leanest version of the final plan, as it didn’t require any great mobilization of resources or manpower. It was centered solely on Charles and Carolyn, and they were the only two people who were truly needed for it.

“Two people working to save the world together? This is truly…”

“Romantic?” Astrid suggested.

“Mm, it’s romantic,” Roel softly replied as he looked at Carolyn.

Astrid nodded in agreement.

Charles’ revised final plan was a miracle brought about by their meeting, the crystallization of their efforts and feelings. It was only with that understanding that he could relate with Carolyn’s obstinacy.

“It’s a pity that they couldn’t accomplish their final plan and stop everything.”

“My apologies, Lord Ancestor, but I won’t give up on Alicia, so…”

“You’re misunderstanding me. I’m not talking about you.”

“Ah?” Roel was confused.

Antonio heaved a deep sigh.

Silence loomed over the three of them before Astrid finally spoke up: “The final plan has long since failed. Carolyn is merely making one last struggle. You’re right to have stopped her.”

“Failed? Why?” Roel was taken aback.

Antonio was the one to answer his question. “It’s rather complicated, but you should be familiar with the event that culminated in the eventual failure of the final plan.”

“I am familiar with it? Are you referring to…”

“Yes, the Spirit Cataclysm of the Capital,” Antonio replied grimly.

He began explaining the events that had transpired in the latter half of the final plan, unraveling the truth behind what happened a thousand years ago.

…