Not long after their discussion, they stood in front of the golden door of the throne room.

Xion's lips unconsciously stretched into a smile.

'This mission is turning out to be a lot more fun than I expected.'

There was still no sign of Evangeline Florivelle anywhere. But if he had to guess, she was most likely teleported to a closed dimensional space just as the three of them had. And unlike them, she may have yet to escape it.

Adrian looked at him and Saria.

"From the moment we enter the throne room once again, the castle will most likely try to separate us and force us into a dimensional space once again, but we have to try our best to reach the skeleton before that."

Xion nodded.

"You are absolutely correct. With everything that has happened until now, I do not doubt that it will happen."

Saria also nodded lightly.

With all three of them in agreement, Adrian placed both his hands on the golden door and pushed it open—or tried to, at least. But unlike before, the door didn't budge at all, no matter how much Adrian seemingly tried.

Xion tilted his head.

"Is it really not opening? I wonder what changed."

Just then, Saria walked forward and pushed Adrian aside.

"Let me try."

Saying that, she channeled her mana, and her entire body was enveloped in a silver energy moments later. Pulling back her fist, she punched forward, causing a loud ringing sound as her fist collided with the door.

Yet the door still didn't budge. She continued with several more attacks, punching, kicking, and smashing it with a platinum hammer. But none of them produced any meaningful results, aside from a few dents. In the end, she had to begrudgingly step away.

Xion observed her thoughtfully.

'Should I help?'

But he didn't think he would be able to do much since his abilities didn't give him a lot of firepower.

'Maybe Kiryuzor can do something…'

As Saria stepped away, Adrian came forward once again. Pulling out one of the two swords attached to his waist, he channeled his mana, and the sword's blade was covered in a starlit black energy.

He raised his sword.

"I don't know if this is going to work since it was ineffective on the entrance door, but I am going to try anyway."

But just as he was about to swing the blade down, the black-haired boy suddenly paused.

After seeing him not move for several moments, Xion furrowed his brow and asked in confusion.

"What happened? Why did you suddenly pause?"

Adrian looked at himself expressionlessly and stated in his usual dull tone.

"I am ascending to Phase Four."

'Huh?… Did I hear wrong?'

No, he didn't think that he did.

'But isn't he too young to reach Phase Four?'

When Xion had entered the academy, he had expected himself to be the only Phase Three cadet. After all, he had lived for a far longer time than his actual age because of the Coin of Time.

But strangely, there had been three more individuals among the applicants who were also Phase Three. It was abnormal, but not too abnormal.

'But this simply doesn't make sense.'

Xion could already sense the change occurring in Adrian's body, even though the black-haired boy had no presence whatsoever.

Just then, Saria's voice came from the side.

"You have to be careful. Phase Four and Phase Five are notorious for having the most dangerous ascension process. Phase Four fundamentally changes and rebuilds your body. I have learned that it is an incredibly painful process that is unbearable for many."

Xion internally nodded.

He was also aware of this information, but he couldn't mention it. After all, he was playing the role of a commoner right now. And no matter how strong and experienced he displayed himself as, it would be strange if he were too informed.

Saria continued.

"But you have to bear through it. Because if you pass out from the pain before metamorphosis is complete, then the ascension process will come to a permanent halt, leaving you completely crippled for life."

Xion changed his tone to sound more worried and turned to Adrian.

"Young Master Adrian, no matter what, you have to endure—"

Xion paused mid-speech.

The black-haired boy was looking at him expressionlessly. There was not even a hint of discomfort on his face, and his muscles were relaxed.

Xion blinked.

"Are you… not feeling any pain?"

Adrian replied in his usual dull tone.

"I am indeed feeling it. And the intensity seems to be even worse than what Saria described."

Xion furrowed his brow.

"Then why aren't you…"

'...reacting at all?'

In the end, the boy ascended to Phase Four just like that.

***

Evangeline sat beside Lilias at the edge of the bed, staring at the unconscious old lady lying in the middle.

After using Vox Imperium on such a large number of people, Evangeline's mana had almost run out. But as they waited for the old woman to wake up, her mana had recovered completely.

'I am feeling kinda nervous at this point.'

She may have tried to remain impartial, but Evangeline had already realized that she had developed a bias for Lilias. She had already internally chosen a side.

So after hearing what the old woman had to say, if it turned out that Lilias was indeed the villain, then she didn't know what she would even do.

As the two of them waited in silence, the elderly lady's eyelids twitched. Moments later, she opened her eyes.

The old woman initially looked around in confusion but paused as her gaze settled on the two of them. A look of realization appeared on her face.

Lilias was the first to break the silence, speaking in a calm tone that had a hint of politeness to it.

"It is nice to meet you, Teacher."

The old woman stared silently for a few moments, then slowly parted her lips.

"I am too old to be anyone's teacher anymore. I honestly didn't think you would address me that way. You seemed to have grasped your situation abnormally quickly."

Then she turned her gaze to Evangeline, who was watching the two of them quietly.

"And who might this girl be? I don't think I have ever seen her, and she doesn't look like a servant judging by her appearance and attire."

Lilias calmly shook her head.

"It doesn't really matter. You do understand that you are a captive right now, correct? You have no right to ask questions. The ones asking questions are going to be us."

"Huh," the old woman scoffed. "And what makes you think that you can get the answers out of me? I may be old, but do not think that something like torture will work on me."

Evangeline opened her mouth.

⪡"You believe that Lilias must die for the sake of the Gracias kingdom's future, correct? Answer." ⪢

Her words caused an invisible ripple to spread as the old woman calmly answered.

"Yes, that is correct."

Her eyes widened in shock as those words left her mouth.

Lilias turned to Evangeline and nodded, signaling her to continue.

Evangeline nodded back and turned her attention to the old woman, who now looked tense.

⪡"That does not make sense. All the kingdom's power lies in the hands of the council and the Guardian Order. Lilias doesn't have the power to make any sort of harmful decisions for the kingdom. This has been the same for the previous two rulers as well, so it makes no sense for you to want the crown gone for the sake of the kingdom. Answer."⪢

The old lady shook her head.

"You are only half correct. The ruler indeed doesn't have the ability to make harmful decisions themselves. But that doesn't mean that they can't cause harm. They have the power to make the final decision about whether a rule or a decision will be implemented or not. So by not allowing a good decision to be implemented, they are indeed causing harm."

Both Evangeline and Lilias frowned.

Evangeline turned to the girl and met her turquoise eyes as she asked.

"What is she talking about, Lilias? Which decision did you reject?"

The old woman had a point. It was indeed possible for the ruler of this kingdom to cause harm by not letting a decision be implemented.

But that was limited to very specific situations.

Lilias still had a frown on her face as she answered.

"I have no idea what she is talking about. It hasn't even been a week since I ascended to the throne, so how could I have stopped a decision from being implemented in that time? And I don't think that the previous two rulers have done such a thing either."

Evangeline frowned.

'The old lady answered because of the effect of Vox Imperium, which means that the answer she gave was what she believed to be correct.'

Lilias's answer was contradicting the old lady's words. Since the girl was a Phase Four, Evangeline couldn't use Vox Imperium on her. This meant that she had no way to confirm whether Lilias was telling the truth or not.