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Many insiders believed that to be the cause of the Spirit Cataclysm of the Capital.

However, Carolyn’s reappearance and subsequent fight with Roel disproved that theory, for her condition was simply too good.

Supposing the Spirit Cataclysm of the Capital was caused by a massive leak of the Savior’s mana from the Abyss, she would have to bear the brunt of the impact. Her chances of survival would have been infinitesimally close to zero, such that it was hard to imagine that she could hop out alive and kicking a thousand years later.

Even if Carolyn had a special ability that helped her survive the ordeal a thousand years ago, she would have still sustained severe injuries. It was hard to imagine that she could survive a thousand years in such a state, especially since she had no support whatsoever.

To draw an analogy, it was as ridiculous as someone being caught in the heart of a nuclear explosion and trapped for over fifty years, then suddenly emerging alive and beating up a world-class fighter.

That was also why the first thing Roel did after ensuring Paul’s safety was to ask Carolyn about the truth from a thousand years ago. The latter’s expression immediately turned grim.

“It’s not a problem on my side. I don’t know the cause either, but there was nothing wrong with the Abyss.”

“I see.”

Both Roel and Astrid heaved a sigh of relief.

There was no one to pursue responsibility over what had happened a thousand years ago, but nevertheless, the Kingmaker Clan would still have to shoulder responsibility if Carolyn was the cause of the Spirit Cataclysm of the Capital.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. That put everyone’s heart at ease.

Roel proceeded to direct a few more questions to Carolyn, as she was likely to know more, having resided in the Abyss all this while.

Yet, much to Roel’s and Astrid’s surprise, Carolyn’s expression turned weird upon hearing their question. There was a moment of silence before she shockingly remarked, “Actually, I didn’t feel a thing at all. Or rather, I don’t know what happened at all.”

“Ah?” Roel exclaimed in shock.

The others, who were waiting with bated breath for Carolyn’s answer, widened their eyes in shock. Even Paul was taken aback as well.

Carolyn looked at them with a bitter smile before sharing her perspective of events.

…

The tenth year of the final plan was viewed as humankind’s turning point, but Carolyn felt nothing about that at all, as the concept of time didn’t exist in the Abyss.

Whether it was day or night, summer or winter, Carolyn was accompanied only by boundless darkness and an enemy who emanated madness and depravity. Each day was as monotonous as the previous in the Abyss. Her perception of time was no longer measured in terms of days and months, but the number of times she had clashed with her enemy.

“Since entering the Abyss, I have fought the Savior a total of 4132 times. Some battles ended in an instant, whereas others lasted for days.

“The Savior’s power is not static; it would fluctuate based on the degree of His awakening. There is a regular pattern to it. The first time I was pushed to a precarious position was during my 52nd fight with Him. I had to persevere for almost ten days before I finally suppressed Him.

“The most dangerous battle I had was the 1300th fight. The Savior was already showing mild signs of awakening then, causing the entire Abyss to tremor. I sustained injuries, and my armor was tattered by that battle. That was also when I came under the influence of His madness…”

“…”

Everyone fell silent after hearing Carolyn’s experience.

Carolyn had used mild words to describe what she had gone through, briefly covering each event without getting into the details, but that was already enough to leave the others feeling despair.

Trapped amidst boundless darkness, forced to clash thousands of times with a supreme existence who could awaken at any moment to obliterate her, and a single misstep could spell her death… Carolyn’s willpower and guts far exceeded their imagination.

Roel couldn’t imagine a person in this world who had greater mental resilience than Carolyn, or, at least, he hadn’t met anyone like that yet.

Paul also revealed a pained look.

Nevertheless, the group swallowed down their feelings and forced themselves to continue listening, so as to get to the bottom of what happened a thousand years ago.

Based on Carolyn’s account, while the Savior’s powers often fluctuated, His strength gradually waned after reaching His peak on their 1300th fight. Carolyn slowly gained the upper hand over Him, eventually reaching a point where she could easily deal with Him.

But while Carolyn had been able to deal with the Savior, it had been a struggle for her to keep herself mentally strong.

While the concept of time was blurred in the Abyss, Carolyn could still estimate that it was her final year in the Abyss from the consumption of resources, so she began looking forward to a brighter future with a heart filled with hope.

It was with the faith that brighter days awaited her after leaving the Abyss that she persevered. Each time she found herself facing death in the eye or teetering on the brink of despair, she would clutch onto this faith and pull herself together.

Once she completed this undertaking, she could finally welcome the love and marriage even she had been looking forward to.

But reality gradually shattered her spirit and dreams through the relentless flow of time.

Eleven years. Twelve years. Thirteen years…

Twenty years eventually passed, but the seal didn’t open. Charles didn’t come for her. This shook her willpower, and the seed of unease that had been looming in her heart all this while finally exploded.

There had always been a thorn in Carolyn’s heart—Charles’ empress in name.

It was only a marriage of convenience—Charles had assured her of it many times before, and she herself had verified it too—but she still struggled to come to acceptance with it.

Oblivious to the pandemonium happening on the surface, Carolyn thought that Charles was making use of this opportunity to dispose of her.

People changed over time. Ten years was long enough to wear down a person’s affection, not to mention that there were countless beauties in the massive Ancient Austine Empire.

Carolyn knew that she wasn’t an easy person to get along with. She had none of the traits a virtuous wife ought to have. Her tremendous power could one day become a threat to Charles’ rule too.

There was no reason for Charles to insist on her.

And the easiest way to deal with her was to abandon her in the Abyss, where there was no risk of a backlash from her.

What Carolyn didn’t know was that Charles was already dead at that point.

Beyond that was a time of darkness for Carolyn. Her loneliness and the futility of her wait had driven her to the brink of mental breakdown. The invincible woman whom even the strongest enemy couldn’t bring down finally met with defeat, at the hands of her own love.

It was a common saying that time would dull all scars, but that hadn’t been the case for Carolyn.

However, she did find herself calming down as time passed. Her strong willpower kept her from ending things once and for all, and the desire to survive slowly sparked in her.

“‘I want to leave this place and get to the bottom of things.’ That was the only thing I wanted to do then, and it fueled my perseverance,” Carolyn said with a relieved smile.

Paul’s pale complexion finally eased upon hearing that. Antonio, Astrid, and Roel looked at one another in silence. Meanwhile, Carolyn continued her story.

Having affirmed her desire to survive, Carolyn brainstormed how she could achieve her goal. The first thing that dawned upon her was that there was no way she could unlock the seal by herself. She could only bide her time and wait for the next opening of the Abyss.

She had no idea how long it would take, but by historical trends, she knew it would take at least centuries. To ensure that she could live till then, she would have to take precautions.

The first thing she did was to rein in her aura and dispel all spells other than those required for her survival. Following that, she stopped provoking the Savior so as to limit their confrontations.

High transcendents didn’t require much food, especially after reaching Origin Level 1. They could survive solely on mana. However, the Abyss was an exception, as the mana here had been corrupted by the Savior’s madness and depravity.

That wasn’t a problem to Carolyn at the start, as her holy armor had the ability to cleanse the Savior’s madness and depravity, but the situation changed when her armor cracked during her 1300th fight with the Savior. That compromised her armor’s cleansing ability, greatly reducing the amount of mana she could absorb each day.

Repairing the crack in the armor would have been a piece of cake to Charles, but it became Carolyn’s worst nightmare when she found herself trapped in the Abyss.

There was a saying that powerful people had hearty appetites.

On the Sia Continent, there was a direct correlation between one’s strength and one’s appetite. Even if high transcendents remained perfectly still, the energy they consumed every day still far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Carolyn nearly became the first Origin Level 1 transcendent to die of starvation.

The amount of energy she depleted each day was massive, far surpassing that of ordinary Race Sovereigns. Yet, the amount of mana she could absorb was reducing with each passing day. Under such circumstances, the only solution that came to her mind was to go into a state of faux death.

“The crack in the holy armor impaired its ability to cleanse surrounding mana. It eventually reached a point where the amount of cleansed mana wasn’t enough to sustain my daily energy expenditure as an Origin Level 1 transcendent. At the same time, I was also worried about the worst possibility,” Carolyn said as she glanced at Paul.

The latter lowered his head apologetically, not knowing how he could make it up to her.

The worst possibility for Carolyn was that Charles was seeking to kill her, a threat to his rule, after moving on to someone new. Should that be the case, he would keep a close eye on the mana fluctuations inside the Abyss so as to determine whether she was dead or not.

Given so, Carolyn could lower Charles’ guard by entering a state of faux death, and that would increase the possibility of the latter opening the seal.

The realization of that prompted Roel and the others to look at Paul as if he was a piece of shit. Faced with so many disdainful looks, Paul helplessly emphasized, “I was already dead by then. There was nothing I could do.”

“It’s all because of your political marriage…”

“I had no choice. I needed the nobles’ support!”