The storm was raging around the floating mountain in the dark ocean. As the storm grew more violent and powerful, the wind blew past strong enough to pick up a man and fling him to the briny waves. Several tornadoes formed in the sea and slowly moved toward the mountain. The superiorly thick smoky clouds rolled in like boulders, ready to crush anything in their way above the dark castle. The darkness was engulfing and seemed to consume any spec of light entirely. Any last

hope was gone. The merciless winds caused the enormous waves to rise like giant sea monsters. These waves almost touched the very bottom of the floating mountain. Every wave erupted like a raging volcano. The lightning storm joined the party and decorated the sky with streaks of lightning. Except for the vampire guards who were tasked to patrol the floating mountain, everyone else took shelter inside the castle.

While the storm was raging outside, Gaya sat beside the window and watched the storm outside. She tightly held a cup of hot coffee Raylene had made her. Without Nightmare and Michael, she felt lonely. For some reason, Nightmare chose to fly through the tornadoes to hone his flying skills. But she knew he just came up with an excuse to spend some time alone. It wouldn't take a genius to tell Nightmare missed Claire and the Sunrise sect. He didn't miss them much when Vedora was there to keep him company. Since Vedora left for the demon's grave with Michael, they both felt lonely. She didn't blink as she stared at the storm through the foggy window. Her fingers moved toward the window without her control, writing the name 'Michael' on the glass.

Soon, the words disappeared in the fog as she leaned on the window. Like a bird flying out of its nest, her thoughts flew away from the room. The temperature within the hot coffee dropped by several degrees and started to turn cold coffee. Ever since she lost the prototype and the weapon after so much preparation and planning, she lost her appetite. During the last couple of days, Raylene became another mother to Gaya. She made sure Gaya's been eating and drinking well despite her lack of appetite. When Gaya refused to eat, Rayle would just knock on her head like an angry mother and feed her with her hands as she did to Cindy and Rumy.

Looking at the dancing tornados, Gaya's consciousness drifted away as her eyes slowly closed. When her head fell, she became wary and emptied the warm coffee in a single gulp. Then, she strolled toward the neatly made bed and just collapsed on the bed like a lifeless body. Both her body and mind were exhausted to the point that as soon as she hit the bed, she entered into a dreamless sleep. The rain droplets played drums upon hitting the windows and the roof, playing a lullaby like a loving mother.

As she was on the verge of completely losing sentience, she felt a hand around her waist. Gaya thought it was a dream as the embrace felt like it came from Michael. He used to hug her tight while sleeping. Every fiber in her body wanted the warmth to last longer and did not want this dream to end. Then, the hand around her waist tightened its hold, pulling her closer toward a gentle warmth. It felt too real to be a dream. She abruptly opened her eyes as her body was about to jolt out of bed. But her body froze the moment she saw Michael's face.

Michael gently brushed the strand of hair falling on her face. On the other hand, Gaya looked as though his shocking return petrified her. She was speechless.

"Is this real?" Gaya muttered.

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"You tell me," Michael said, slowly moving his head closer to hers. She could feel his warm breath breezing past her like a morning breeze. When she opened her mouth, he closed it with his own lips. Their bodies pressed together heatedly against each other, breathing heavily as they tasted each other's lips. Everything around Gaya blurred and silenced. The only sound she heard was the sound of his hands gently cupping her face to position her face for a heavenly kiss. They only departed when they lost their breath.

"When did you come back?" asked Gaya. Her alluring eyes sparkled with joy at seeing Michael. It was too much of a shock to her.

"Just a few minutes ago. The moment I stepped into this world, I came running to see the most beautiful girl in the entire universe," Michael pinched Gaya's nose playfully.

"I see the demons grave has turned you cheesy," Gaya purred. She threw her arm around Michael's shoulder and tried to pull him closer, although there was no space between them.

"Where is Vedora?" Gaya asked.

"They went to see Raylene. I think we should talk about why I sense some gloom in your eyes. Something happened?" Despite how happy she looked, Michael could see through her eyes and read her like a book. After entering the portal, he appeared somewhere in the crystal ocean that divides Elon and Ozer. From there, he used runic teleportation to reach the castle. So he didn't know what had happened while he was gone. As she heard him, she moved closer and rested her head on his chest.

"I fucked up," Gaya said in a husky voice. Then, Gaya began to tell Michael what had happened since he left for the demons grave. When she finally finished her story, Michael surprised her with a chuckle.

"You idiot. That was the reason why you look so gloomy?" Michael rubbed her head as she looked at him with shock and surprise. To be honest, she never expected Michael to take her failure so casually, like it didn't matter.

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"I failed you," Gaya purred.

Once again, Michael ruffled her head. He liked to ruffle her perfectly combed hair and kiss the top of her head. Although he was not the most romantic man in the world, he never passed on an opportunity to pamper her and shower her with kisses.

"Nothing you ever do will fail or disappoint me, you silly idiot. What if Noah destroyed the prototype and the weapon? You did everything you could,"

"Butbut" Gaya muttered as Michael shook his head.

"No buts. Listen," Michael lifted up Gaya and put her body on him. He then cupped her face and looked her in the eyes.

"If I fail to do something, would you be disappointed in me?"

Gaya shook her head,

"Of course, I will kill you if you don't marry me or look at another girl. But I won't feel disappointed," Gaya punched Michael in the chest. Despite her words, he never doubted Michael, not even for a second. She trusted him enough to leave Michael with thousands of beauties in a room without a worry in the world. The trust they had in each other was stronger than anything in the world. They both knew a relationship couldn't survive without trust.

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Her words made Michael chuckle,

"See. That's how I feel. Whatever you do or don't, you will never disappoint me. Besides, why are you looking at the events as failures? You and I both know it was Noah who destroyed the weapon along with the Han Torum shipyard. We can use it to turn the dwarves against the Guardians. They pretended to be elves, so I'd say the elves won't be happy about their names being dragged through the mud. So we can give the elves and the dwarves a common enemy," said Michael. He came up with the plan on the spot, and as simple as it may sound, the plan would bring major heat upon the Guardian Guild once he provided proof about Noah's involvement to both dwarves and the elves. Now that Gaya said they turned a guardian into their spy, it would be relatively easier for him to gather the needed proof to make Noah's life harder. Noah may have gained the upper hand in the new weapon matter, but Michael would soon pay him back several folds.

"I've returned from the most dangerous places in the world. Can you put aside these matters and give me some love?" Michael winked.

"Only kisses for you, my darling," said Gaya in a playful tone.

"Until you marry me,"

"Why did I agree to that? I have the most beautiful sexy girl as my fiance, and I don't get to do more," Michael pretended to be disappointed. As far as Michael was concerned, relationships were more than having physical satisfaction. He didn't think Gaya would say no if he insisted, but Michael respected her wish not to have anything physical more than a kiss. He was quite happy with that because she was the one for him. This was a magical relationship Michael would treasure forever. Every time he looked into her eyes, he promised himself not to let anything happen to her. The Dark Lord was right to reset the entire universe. If something were to happen to Gaya, Michael would go to hell or heaven to bring her back, no matter the cost.

"Even the Dark Lord has to obey his woman, Michael," Gaya chuckled.

"Inside these walls, I am the boss,"

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"Is that so?" Michael grabbed her by her slender waist, pushed her to the side, and got on top of her. He held her wrists firmly.

"Bastard, don't even think about it," Gaya squirmed.

"I am not thinking about anything," Michael said with a foxy smile. The following hours were spent cuddling and kissing. They talked for hours until they both fell asleep under the cozy blanket.