After witnessing what happened, both Isaac and Ethan were stunned. They had just seen something they believed was nearly impossible unfold right in front of them. Ethan's eyes drifted to the crystal again. Something about it felt strangely familiar, almost as if it belonged to a forgotten memory—yet he couldn't place his finger on it.
He shook his head lightly and forced himself to focus. Their mission came first: retrieve the crystal.
But when they moved closer to it, they suddenly felt their powers weakening. The closer they got, the worse it became. That forced them to step back and reconsider.
"We can't take it like this," Ethan muttered.
"Yeah… we need another plan," Ivan agreed.
They decided to retreat for now and went straight to Angela's home.
Once there, they explained everything—what they saw, what happened, and what they had discovered. In the heat of their discussion, they forgot Angela was standing right beside them. She heard every word.
She was speechless. Everything she believed was shattered in a moment. What she thought was a world was only an island. The "divine blessing" she admired was nothing more than powers stolen from a crystal. And somewhere out there, a mastermind was manipulating it all.
As Angela stood there silently processing the truth, Ethan and Ivan continued debating their next move, not paying attention to her at all. The crystal was growing weaker, the people were still extracting its essence, and time was running out.
After thinking it through, they decided to gather more information. They visited every major noble house on the island, collecting every rumor, whisper, and suspicion they could.
When they finally regrouped, they laid out their findings:
According to the nobles, the general didn't obtain the crystal himself. It was first given to someone else. The general secretly killed that person and stole it. Later, another being appeared before the general claiming to be a divine entity, granting him the "right" to use the crystal. The nobles also suspected the general's family of being behind the recent series of disappearances across the island. However, all of this information was speculative—and the nobles weren't exactly saints themselves.
With no solid leads left, Ethan and Ivan decided to investigate the final and most important place: the royal palace.
They infiltrated it the same way they always had. Since the crystal wasn't nearby, they remained completely invisible. They roamed freely, gathering information from guards, servants, and even the royal family.
That was when they noticed something unsettling: the royal bloodline seemed different. Even though Ethan and Ivan were invisible, members of the royal family could somehow sense them faintly.
"We need to keep our eyes on these people," Ethan whispered.
They agreed and prepared to leave. But as they reached the exit, a soft, feminine voice called out:
"Hey… who are you?"
Both Ethan and Ivan froze. They slowly turned around.
Standing behind them was the royal princess. They recognized her immediately from the portraits in the palace.
But what shocked them wasn't who she was—
It was the fact that she could see them.
They stared at her in disbelief. Ethan pointed at himself and Ivan.
"Are… are you talking to us?"
The princess raised a brow. "Who else would I be talking to?"