Cycle of Destiny

Chapter 70 is all about him!

Since she said it "didn't matter," Harry didn't dare to ask her why.

He swallowed hard and changed the subject: "Bella, before the goddess, you..."

"What do you want to say?" Bella in the red robe interrupted him, her blood-red eyes narrowing.

"I want to know... what is the goddess's power?" Harry asked cautiously.

"She is also a Saint-level being." Bella in red robes answered quickly this time, without hiding anything.

"Really?" Harry caught the word and instinctively followed up, "Then she..."

"So she can't sense me?" Bella in the red robe finished speaking for him, and the corners of her mouth curled up in that cold, emotionless smile again.

Harry nodded, the question lingering in his mind: "That's right. If you're both Saint-level, why couldn't she sense you?"

Instead of answering directly, Bella in red robes asked, "Then why couldn't the cardinal on the ship see your 'Little Bella'?"

Harry was startled; a chill ran down his spine. She even knew the nickname "Beckham"!

It seems she wasn't always asleep or completely unaware. I need to be more careful in the future, and make sure she doesn't catch me talking badly about her behind her back.

"Because..." Harry's voice was dry, "because it's a spirit?"

"Of course not," Bella in the red robe said with undisguised mockery. "Stupid question."

Then, instead of explaining, she asked Harry another question:

"If a low-level mage and a mid-level mage were to duel in the mist, who would survive?"

Harry paused, wondering why she would suddenly ask him this question. He thought for a moment and cautiously replied, "Low-level mages will lose."

Why?

"Because... intermediate mages have a wider range of magical perception than low-level mages," Harry said, pondering the significance of this simple question. "Intermediate mages can sense the location of low-level mages before they can, while low-level mages haven't yet..."

His words abruptly stopped, and his eyes widened slightly.

A look of expectation flashed in Bella's blood-red eyes as she slightly raised her chin.

"It's the difference in power that leads to the absolute difference in perception range," Harry murmured, as if speaking to himself. "Intermediate mages 'see' further, so low-level mages are nowhere to hide in front of them, even in the same fog."

“That’s right.” Red-robed Shell straightened his body. “Although you are still so stupid that you annoy me, at least you’re not beyond redemption.”

Harry felt a surge of suppressed anger rising to his head, but he quickly plastered a fawning smile on his face and forced out a voice through gritted teeth: "Th-thank you for the compliment."

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and asked the question that had been swirling in his mind: "But... Xiao Bei and the cardinal on the ship are both level nine. You and the goddess, according to you, are both saint-level. Could... the difference between people of the same level be so great that one side is completely unable to perceive the other?"

Bella in her red robes wore a distinctly disdainful expression, a contempt born of genuine contempt for the ignorant. "Yes, the difference is that vast. The gap between Saint-level beings is like…" Her blood-red eyes swept over Harry's bloated body, "like you, and a crawling infant—both human. Who do you think would win in a duel between you and him?"

Harry opened his mouth, speechless. The analogy was simple and direct, so direct that it was impossible to refute.

The level of power may be the same, but the underlying magnitude and control can be worlds apart. He recalled that Beckham had previously used a similar analogy to illustrate the difference in power between people of the same level.

But what he didn't expect was that this power gap would extend directly to the level of perception, forming an absolute, hidden advantage.

He nodded slowly, this time truly understanding.

But at this point, Harry felt even more frightened.

According to this explanation, it can only mean that the goddess's power is far inferior to hers.

Throughout the entire continent of Arcanos, the most powerful nation is the Arcanos Empire. The Church of Light is the most powerful force within the Arcanos Empire, to the point that even the royal family can only follow in their footsteps.

The goddess of the church is, at least publicly, second only to the pope in the church.

In other words, the number two figure in the most powerful force on the mainland is far less powerful than her.

Just how strong is this woman?

Bella in the red robe looked at his bewildered yet fearful expression, seemingly losing interest in continuing the conversation.

"It's nothing, don't bother me."

She coldly uttered those words, without even glancing at Harry again. The crimson figure, just as it had appeared, began to fade rapidly, becoming transparent, as if melting into the air.

In the next instant, she vanished completely, leaving only the lingering chill in the room and the dark red gem that clung to Harry's skin.

Harry's Adam's apple bobbed, a surge of suppressed anger rising in his chest.

A sentence was swirling in his throat, almost bursting out, but he swallowed it back down firmly—

Damn it, I was calling for Beckham, not you! You're the one who popped up here! And now it's me annoyed with you?!

Harry also wanted to know why Alexander was able to predict the future, and why Alexander could even guess his two different choices.

But the woman didn't give him a chance to ask, and Harry didn't have much hope, knowing that even if he did ask, the woman most likely wouldn't answer him.

He stood there, motionless for a long time. The cold sweat that had seeped out earlier had dried, leaving a tight, salty feeling on his skin, which was very uncomfortable.

He raised his hand, his fingertips touching the gemstone on his neck. Its hardness and coldness made him shiver involuntarily.

He walked to the mirror again, and his reflection showed a normal complexion, completely unlike the pale and dejected look he had when he first woke up.

He walked back to the bedside and sat down heavily, the soft mattress creaking slightly under pressure.

It was very dark outside the window; it seemed like dawn was still a long way off.

He lay down, eyes open, staring at the blurry relief patterns on the ceiling in the dim light. His body tossed and turned like a pancake, but he couldn't find a position to fall asleep.

He simply couldn't stop thinking.

He didn't understand why she said "it doesn't matter at all," and he didn't know why the pain in his chest still persisted.

And the paleness on my face, was it a sign that I still hadn't found the person who wanted to kill me?

Damn!

In his conversation with the goddess, Harry realized at least one thing: whether he agreed or not, he seemed destined to help her find the bracelet.

This means that the goddess herself could not have been the murderer who killed her in the forest.

Moreover, this time he didn't try to seduce the lonely Mrs. Avril in the drawing room at all.

Without that absurd affair, the lady and her knight husband would not have experienced a marital crisis, and she would not have been driven out of the house by the knight.

Most importantly, the deeply humiliated knight husband completely lost his reason to assassinate his "lover" at all costs.

Harry pondered this carefully: For a knight serving in the army, who valued honor above all else, if the scandal were to spread, and everyone knew that his wife had betrayed him and was subsequently driven out by the adulterous nobleman, then the knight's anger and sense of shame would be enough to drive him to any act of reckless revenge.

Under these circumstances, it was entirely logical and reasonable for him to rack his brains and use every means to assassinate the nobleman who had brought him humiliation.

But this time, Harry didn't give him any such opportunity. He hadn't even seen the woman last night.

Therefore, if the last murderous intent stemmed from Harry's recklessness, then this time, the knight has completely lost the motivation to attack him.

This is precisely what confuses and unsettles Harry the most.

This time, he seemed to have ruled out the goddess and the humiliated knight as suspects, but the lingering pain and sense of crisis in his body had not disappeared.

Is this telling him that the real killer...has not been found yet?

Neither Nasus nor Arthas, the elven prince, nor the goddess of the church nor the knight who might be insulted, perhaps... none of them were the one who delivered the fatal blow in the darkness of the forest?

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration appeared in his mind—Alexander Langton!

Harry suddenly realized that everything he had experienced seemed to be connected to this legendary duke, who had not been documented in many places!

Beckham and Bella used to follow Alexander, and he inexplicably became his successor.

The goddess received his prophecy, which is why she entrusted him with finding the bracelet.

His master, who would take him as his disciple no matter what, and the holy magician who wanted to send him back to the capital, were only able to leave prison thanks to Alexander's rescue.

He was traveling on a ship named after him, and the ship's owner was his wife.

The elven prince Arthas also seemed to have some connection with him, which is why Duke Langdon was willing to rescue him and bring him aboard the ship.

The magic deacon, Cavill, who gave him the staff and robe, joined the church's knightly order with his letter of introduction.

Even his own father had defeated Duke Alexander Langdon when he participated in the tournament!

Everything he had experienced seemed to be connected by an invisible thread, and the owner of this thread was Alexander Langton!

Harry tossed and turned in bed, unable to understand why he had gotten entangled with the duke, the thin silk sheets a mess from his actions.

Time passed slowly in the darkness, and he was lost in thought, unable to find peace.

Finally, extreme physical exhaustion overwhelmed his tense nerves, and he closed his eyes before the sky outside the window turned gray.