Chapter 426: Athena
The dream mist spread slowly, yet it could not penetrate the seal of the ice coffin. Ace frowned, his eyes flickering as rune structures danced at his fingertips.
Streams of sealing runes flowed from Ace’s fingertips. His eyes flashed with a vast number of runes as he deciphered the seal bit by bit. This operation was not simple; his goal was not a violent breach, but to partially unravel it while preserving the seal to a certain extent, ensuring Athena did not die.
“That should do it.”
Ace let out a long breath and allowed the runes to dissipate. The dream mist had permeated the ice coffin, gradually shrouding Athena, who lay quietly within.
The entire ice-covered burial chamber was now blanketed in golden dream mist. The mist linked Ace and Athena, dyeing both of them with a layer of gold.
Behind Ace, the mental imagery dream world unfolded a dreamlike, colorful vortex, ceaselessly inhaling and exhaling the dream mist.
Ace closed his eyes and gently touched Athena’s consciousness through the dream mist, slowly pulling her into his mental imagery dream world.
Emerald green grass, fresh air carrying a hint of moisture, like the sky clearing after rain. Beside the brilliant Lake of Mana, a peerless beauty suddenly appeared.
She possessed ruby-like brilliant eyes, long eyelashes, snow-white skin, and sky-blue hair tied high. Her polished silver skirt armor shone brightly under the starry sky where the sun and moon shone together.
She seemed somewhat confused, looking around at the boundless grassland and the brilliant Lake of Mana beside her. Her small mouth opened slightly, and her tender, slender fingers subconsciously covered it.
“I should have defeated the Lord of Darkness… What is this place?”
She looked around, gazing curiously at the starry sky with the sun and moon shining together, feeling it was incredibly unbelievable.
“This is my mental imagery world, Your Highness.”
A familiar voice appeared behind Athena. She turned her head with a mix of surprise, familiarity, and strangeness.
A tall magic top hat, a black magic robe, a slender figure, and a mysterious smile. He took off his top hat and bowed gently to Athena.
Athena hesitated and said, “Are you Ace? How have you grown so much taller? And what happened to your hair!”
Ace looked directly at Athena. This soul-stirring beauty made even Ace, who was obsessed with research all day, feel a bit suffocated. He closed his eyes, took a slow breath, opened them, and said calmly:
“Your Highness, seventeen years have passed since you fell into your long slumber. We haven’t met for nineteen years.”
Athena looked at Ace with a shocked expression. Her impression of Ace was stuck in his youth, when he was just a wise boy. The current Ace seemed to have an added air of mystery.
She walked slowly in front of Ace, tilting her head to look up at him, who was half a head taller than her. Her red eyes held curiosity.
“It really is Ace. Grown-up Ace is so much taller than me!”
Athena pulled Ace, speaking somewhat happily. Her smile was still so pure, which made Ace feel unbearable pain in his heart.
“Aren’t you curious why you slept for so long? Aren’t you curious why you appeared in my mental imagery world?”
Athena’s smile slowly faded. Her red eyes shimmered, and her beautiful eyelashes trembled slightly. She sighed, “I just wanted… I just wanted to relax, just wanted to be happy for a little while longer.”
She raised her small face, staring at Ace with ruby-like sparkling eyes: “Since you want to say it, then tell me.”
Ace was slightly stunned, feeling heartache for Athena. His hand hovered, lifted and lowered, lowered and lifted, and finally rested on Athena’s shoulder as he spoke softly:
“I’m sorry. But as a friend, I cannot see you in distress and turn a blind eye.
“King Tedius sealed you in this ice coffin. I don’t know if his intentions were good or bad; he didn’t try to save you, nor did he kill you.
“As for me, I once deceived you. I am a wizard.”
Athena stared at Ace with her ruby eyes, then burst into laughter. She said in a melodious voice, “I forgive you, Wizard Ace. My father sealed me here for his own reasons, which I don’t want to know right now. My friend, do you have a way to help me?”
Ace nodded. He indeed had a way to help Athena.
“Your body has been scoured by external forces, and the Bloodline of Elegance is completely gone, but the power of frost remains. I can provide you with an excessive amount of vitality to trigger your body’s self-recovery mechanism. The degree of damage to your body isn’t too high, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Athena smiled gracefully, hiding her sorrow deep in her eyes. She said brilliantly to Ace, “Then I’m counting on you, Ace.”
Outside the ice coffin, Ace slowly opened his eyes. The Eye of Truth flickered. He reproduced the sealing rune structure with his fingers and pointed gently, disintegrating the frost seal. The ice coffin shattered, and the ice and snow covering the entire burial chamber melted rapidly. Athena’s body began to collapse. The vortex of the mental imagery world behind Ace surged with billows of blood qi, wrapping around Athena.
That blood qi, like a vast ocean, poured into Athena’s collapsing body to stabilize it. Ace used a fixed soul frequency to stimulate Athena’s consciousness. His mental power slowly stimulated Athena’s soul, and she opened her eyes.
Relying on instinct, Athena absorbed Ace’s blood qi wantonly, converting it into her own vitality. The collapsing state of her body gradually stopped and began to recover step by step.
Athena was different from Ollie. Her injuries were lighter than Ollie’s, her life level was higher, and her resilience was stronger. Ace consumed almost the vast majority of his vitality power, pouring all the blood qi into Athena’s body, forming a Blood Qi Essence in her chest.
Athena stood up somewhat weakly. Her body had begun to recover its functions, but she was too weak. This could only recover slowly; it was not something that happened overnight.
“Thank you, Ace.”
The weak Athena lunged forward and hugged Ace, pressing tightly against his chest, murmuring softly.
“Let me lean on you for a moment, just for a moment.”
Ace did not know where to place his hands. He hesitated for a while, then let them hang down just like that.
Athena’s expression was slightly disappointed. She slowly raised her head, staring at Ace somewhat aggressively, and said, “What are you hesitating for?”
She gently pushed Ace away, slowly took a few steps back, and whispered:
“The last time I saw you, you said you’d take me to see your manor. Later, I went. It was indeed exquisite, but you were already gone. Whether it was you or Father, you all had compelling difficulties, didn’t you?
“Ace, I want to ask you a question, and you must answer me!”
Athena swayed weakly as she approached Ace. Her eyes were so bright, her eyelashes trembling slightly. She stood on tiptoes, leaned close to Ace’s ear, and her gentle breath made Ace feel warm and itchy.
“When you first saw me, did you ever like me?”
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