Thessa frowned. She never got to respond because The Prince cut her off, but she didn't like Kairos' words either. In fact, the air she was radiating now was a chilling cold.

Kairos put his hands up. "Oh my, it seems I've made an enemy out of everyone just by telling the truth. Whatever will I do?"

Despite his words, Kairos didn't seem to care in the slightest. His momentum was that of someone who was willing to face the world and crush anything in his wake without the slightest hesitation. In fact, he looked like he would have preferred to fight all of them at once so long as the opportunity was presented to him. In fact, he wouldn't have rather had it any other way. This was exactly what he wanted more than anything else.

The wide grin on his face seemed to suggest he was yearning for it.

The balconies shot upward, riding up the sides of the walls until they broke through the glass ceiling. They looked out onto the starry skies and finally saw the sight beneath them… A tree. A tree that swallowed up an entire hemisphere of a planet, so wide and all-encompassing its canopy loomed over it all. The planet itself could hardly be seen at all.

And the "tower" they came out of was nothing more than a single one of its branches.

They were all plopped down on a glass platform in the depths of space, outside the range of the planet and in a region they could only be forced to rely on their own Wills to sustain themselves.

They were all geniuses, and every one of them was capable of doing exactly this. However, the stress in doing so was much more than they were used to.

It was like their Will had suddenly become external to the tree beneath them and their bodies were being stripped of its momentum by it.

It was worse than just being in the void of space, there was a literal vacuum constantly sapping at their stamina.

Sylas didn't seem surprised, though. He adjusted the sleeves of his red shirt. With a flash, the Scorned Wraps appeared and sparking lines of red appeared around it before vanishing. Its chains rattled and the others looked toward it, their pupils constricting.

However, Sylas himself didn't seem to notice their reactions.

"Sister, come here." The Prince said, abandoning his fury to point his spear at Sylas. He didn't look toward the Duchess, focusing to make sure that Sylas didn't do anything to stop her.

The Duchess hesitated for a moment before her gaze turned steely.

"It is okay, brother. Focus on your battles. I can take care of myself, I promise."

The Prince's eyes widened and Kairos burst into laughter.

"Ah, Sylas, oh Sylas. You have to teach me your ways. What does it take to woo a woman like this?"

Before The Prince could react to Kairos' obvious act of provocation, a sprinkle of The Duchess' aura spilled into the air.

The Prince's eyes widened. "Sister, you—!"

The Duchess smiled. "Like I said, do not worry about me, brother."

The Prince blinked and then looked toward Sylas.

"He…"

"I do not know what has happened either. I promise you brother, I am still pure. I have not humiliated the family. But Sylas is not my husband. I have to follow him."

Kairos clicked his tongue. "Well this is no fun, now is it?"

"Uh uh uh," Kairos shook his head no as Thessa suddenly fired an arrow at his head. It was so fast no one even saw her draw her bow. But Kairos was already shaking his head before she loosed it, the echo of his words being swallowed by a sudden— BOOM.

The arrow reflected against a barrier.

"This must be what they mean by all tits no brains." Kairos looked down at Thessa's impressive chest. "You know what, never mind. The trade off is very worth it."

Thessa's eyes blazed with battle intent, but then a blazing golden light suddenly shot up through the glass.

Each group—or rather one group and the three other individuals—were separated by a blinding pillar of golden light.

Slowly, that light broke apart into the branches of a golden tree, and then further broke down into sparkling motes of Runes that then formed Runes and then shattered into a sprinkling rain.

Slowly, new laws formed around them, laws that dictated what would happen.

Sylas' body was enveloped. He wasn't surprised by this at all. If what he thought was happening was truly happening, then he wouldn't just be the first chosen, he would also be chosen at every step from here on out.

The shaking in his heart returned but he forced himself to focus, his gaze growing sharp. He sent Gogo into his Hibernation Realm, and then he looked at the Duchess and reached out a hand.

The Duchess took it and they vanished together. When they appeared again, they hadn't gone far. They stood in the middle of the glass platform, facing one another.

A look of shock appeared in the Duchess' eyes.

"This…" she didn't know what to say. "… I have to… fight you?"

She didn't want this at all. She thought they were going to face something together and she had felt a bit giddy for a moment. This wasn't what she thought would happen.

"Trust me." Sylas said calmly.

The Prince clenched his fists. There was nothing he could say. When someone wanted to listen, they would. When they were lost in their own world and own way of viewing things, there was no amount of information, insight, or hope he could give them that would change anything.

"What will… happen…?" the Duchess asked softly.

"From here, only one of us will be able to leave alive." Sylas said calmly.

The eyes of the Prince bulged. But one thing held him back. He didn't understand. If Sylas' goal was to kill his sister, why would he be so open with this? Shouldn't he lie instead?

Was his sister that enamoured?

'Charysm?!'

"And then?" The Duchess asked again.

"Then I will find a way to bring you back. You are destined to reach the S-tier. This is not where your journey ends."