Hughes sighed and said, “I’ve never been on a date with a girl.”

  His entire life had been dedicated to the cause of restoring South Seraph. Nearly all his time was spent training, which is how he achieved the rank of a high-ranking knight at such a young age.

  When would he have had time to date?

  Charlot dared not respond to this topic. Charlot Mecklenburg had experienced plenty of dates with women. Even after transmigrating here, his dates with Annie were frequent enough to be called "regur." He didn’t want to provoke Hughes.

  Charlot took a rge swig of ale and asked solemnly, “After killing so many people, don’t you feel it’s cruel?”

  Hughes sneered. “Do you know how many South Seraphs died because of the Behemoth people’s betrayal?”

  “Forty percent!”

  “A full forty percent!”

  “The South Seraphs suffered unimaginably horrific deaths. The Behemoth people must pay the same price. They are our mortal enemies. If given the choice, I would sughter every st Behemoth.”

  Charlot sighed but said nothing further. Back in university, he had read some historical accounts. The founding of the Fars Empire was built upon countless corpses, unleashing a storm of blood and terror. The crown of the Fars Empire was forged from the bones of countless souls.

  Charlot was merely a transmigrator. He had no desire to voice opinions on such a complex matter.

  Were the Behemoth people wrong to betray the South Seraphs?Undoubtedly, yes.

  Should the South Seraphs seek to restore their kingdom and annihite the Principality of Behemoth?This was a question of debate, not answers!

  If given a choice, Charlot wished for a world without war.

  Unfortunately, no such choice existed for him.

  Hughes gulped down another mouthful of wine, kicked over the barrel, and roared, “Onward with the battle!”

  “One day, just like in my dreams, I’ll kill you and use the cruelest punishments to make you repay Jonan’s blood debt.”

  Charlot, knowing that "his" parents and brother had died at the hands of Duchess Josephine, calmly replied, “Do you remember the heads you showed me beneath the walls of Silver Dove Castle?”

  Hughes replied coldly, “If you ever get the chance to kill me, do not hesitate. That would be the fate I deserve.”

  “From the day I stepped onto the battlefield, I was prepared. Life and death are dictated by fate.”

  “I can kill, and I can be killed. If I die on the battlefield, I won’t compin.”

  “For South Seraph, I am willing to sacrifice everything. My life is but a trivial matter.”

  Charlot had nothing more to say. He had grown up in an era of peace and had no common ground or shared perspective with someone like Hughes, whose life had been consumed by vengeance.

  Setting down the barrel, Charlot drew Blood Rose. Arsilo Swordsmanship’s Stardust Battle Energy erupted, scattering points of light like bzing fire.

  In their ensuing duel, Charlot sted only twenty-eight moves before Hughes's Knight’s Lance pierced his abdomen.

  Charlot reappeared, and this time, neither man spoke. They engaged in another silent duel.

  By the eighteenth duel, Charlot comprehended the sixth movement: The Molten Gold of the Setting Sun. Their exchanges once again extended beyond thirty moves.

  In the nineteenth duel, Charlot endured thirty-one moves.In the twentieth duel, he managed thirty-five moves.

  The two men developed a tacit understanding, avoiding the dream realm. The next day, Hughes resumed his assault on Silver Dove Castle, advancing the byrinthification progress to (10/18).

  When Charlot and Hughes reappeared in the dream realm a day ter, Grandma Saint Karen had prepared an array of food—bread, roasted meat, mushrooms, and at least three types of fruit wine alongside over ten barrels of ale from various taverns. The dueling arena resembled a high-end buffet, with the food arranged neatly on a long table.

  In their first duel, Charlot suffered a crushing defeat, losing in a single exchange. Hughes skewered him with over a dozen spear thrusts, leaving him like a tattered rag doll impaled and flung to the ground, dying a miserable death.

  Charlot keenly noticed that Hughes’s speed and thrusting technique had improved, rendering his prized Swiftstep Technique, Spider Technique, and Wings of the Young Dragon ineffective. Without a slight speed advantage, his losses became far more devastating.

  Charlot had no immediate solutions. Without a quick breakthrough, he lost sixteen consecutive duels, each ending in instant death, leaving him no chance to counterattack.

  Finally, in the seventeenth duel, Charlot saw an opportunity.

  His Stardust Battle Energy underwent a breakthrough in the depths of despair, shattering a thin barrier and advancing to the seventh rank, achieving mid-level Transcendent status.

  With his improved strength and overall enhancements to his physique, Charlot managed to endure seven moves in the duel before meeting his end.

  By the eighteenth duel, Charlot had gained better control over his newfound power, withstanding more than ten moves against Hughes’s relentless Golden Requiem spear techniques.

  In the nineteenth duel, Charlot held on for two additional moves.In the twentieth duel, a peculiar spear technique from Hughes cimed Charlot’s life in a single blow...

  The following day, Hughes once again led an assault on the city, bringing Silver Dove Castle’s byrinthification progress to (11/18).

  Despite being killed forty times by Hughes in the dream realm, Charlot found soce in the steady byrinthification of Silver Dove Castle.

  As Hughes’s army slowly retreated, Charlot’s diary resonated with a rare surge of intent:“Charlot Mecklenburg, as interim commander of Silver Dove Castle, has repelled Saint Viggo. Upon completion of byrinthification, you will be rewarded with Mind Channeling! This ability allows you to transport individuals and items of Transcendent rank lower than your own into Machubi or byrinthified Silver Dove Castle.”

  Charlot was overjoyed. Once Silver Dove Castle was fully byrinthified, not only would he be able to travel freely between the two byrinths, but he could also transport lower-ranked Transcendents and Transcendent items between them. The convenience was incredible.

  After reveling in this discovery for some time, Charlot identified two significant bugs. First, many of the Transcendent items he possessed, such as Dark Luxury and Fleeting Bloom, were high-level Transcendent artifacts, making them ineligible for transport. Second, he could only send things into the byrinths but could not retrieve them remotely. To retrieve anything, he would have to physically travel to either Machubi or Silver Dove Castle.

  While the ability to send items into the byrinths was already quite convenient, Charlot’s transmigrator mind quickly devised seventy or eighty ways to exploit it.

  For instance, he could transport food and crop seeds to Machubi, enabling easier cultivation there. Alternatively, he could send ale from Silver Dove Castle to Machubi, then to Strasbourg, saving a substantial amount on transportation costs.

  Even so, Charlot felt mildly dissatisfied and sighed, thinking, “This byrinth is riddled with bugs!”