Kratia and Prince struggled to make sense of the situation after they escaped the Archmage's spatial magic. They found themselves inside a dungeon they had never been in before.

"What exactly is going on…?" Prince asked in a quivering voice.

Kratia shook her head and said, "I don't know either."

Of course, Kratia knew that Lee Shin-Woo had activated the Bone Gate, but she had no intentions of explaining that to Prince. She wasn't in the mood to do so anyway.

"That man... Did he do this?"

"Nope. Since he tried to kill me."

"...What about my junior?"

"..."

"Hey, I asked what happened to my junior!?"

Kratia wanted to retort, 'And how the hell would I know?', but she held herself back. It seemed like Prince was worried about Lee Shin-Woo as well, so she just gave her a little something to hang onto.

"He's probably alright."

"How do you know that!?"

"Because that’s still here," Kratia said, looking down at Rem.

Prince's eyes went wide-open; she hadn't noticed Rem until now, and Rem reported mechnically.

[Master is safe.]

"Right?"

"H-How? No, it's a relief that he's alright..."

Prince was genuinely relieved. Kratia felt the same. In a way, though, she felt a bit disappointed as well. The fact that Lee Shin-Woo was able to safely escape from that situation meant there was something he hadn't told her about.

...But what's important is that Shin-Woo's alright. Jin is probably okay, too.

Lee Shin-Woo was in no way obligated to tell her everything. When she thought about it like that, she wondered if she had perhaps asked way too much of Lee Shin-Woo before, or if she had misjudged their relationship. Perhaps he found it troublesome.

"Hoo..." Kratia sighed.

"He's safe, so why do you look so down?"

"Relationships are harder to figure out than magic..."

"Where is that coming from!?"

Prince and Kratia had recovered from their initial shock of meeting the Archmage. Just when they were able to make themselves somewhat presentable, Lee Shin-Woo and Jin joined them in the dungeon.

They realized that when Rem flapped its wings and flew towards Lee Shin-Woo.

"All of you are alright."

[Master!]

"Yeah, it's a relief that you're safe as well."

"Junior!?"

"Shin-Woo!"

Lee Shin-Woo, who had reclaimed Rem, moved the Bone Gate that was in Rem's inventory back into his own. In the process, he noticed the Bone Gate could now transport three people at a time.

As expected, absorbing bones not only allowed the temporary activation of the Bone Gate, but also permanently strengthened it. It turned out the gate wasn't any different from his other bone equipment.

"It's a relief that I fed it so much..."

"Junior!"

Because of that, I was able to save Prince as well, he thought to himself with satisfaction. Then someone rushed over to him. It was Prince with her eyes brimming with tears.

"I'm so glad you're alive. It's such a relief! Huuuu..."

"Uh... I'm glad you're safe too, Senior."

Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t planned to save Prince, but it seemed she had misunderstood and thought that Lee Shin-Woo had risked his life getting her to safety. It was a blow to his conscience, but right now, he needed to come out strong!

"You sent us over here, didn’t you?” Prince asked. “That consumable must've been really expensive! I thought you were a good guy before, and you proved me right!"

"Ha, haha..."

It seemed that Prince had come to the same conclusion as Feotane Von Seldin. Lee Shin-Woo decided not to correct her misunderstanding and responded with a noncommittal laugh. Though her face was a mess, Prince beamed. She was the type of person who cried with a runny nose when she was relieved and touched; he couldn't say he hated people like her.

"But it wasn't for free."

"Huh!?"

"I'll collect the life debt later. Isn't that how it works?"

Lee Shin-Woo grinned. Prince dropped the hand that had grabbed onto him at some point and staggered back, her face pale. It seemed that she had come to an even greater misunderstanding.

"I-I told you my heart belongs to someone else."

"I know. Hahaha."

While Lee Shin-Woo teased Prince to no end, Kratia quietly came over and held onto Lee Shin-Woo. There was a lot she wanted to ask him, but right now...

"Shin-Woo, I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah. Thanks, Kratia. Let's talk later."

"...Okay."

"..."

On one side, there was Prince, and on the other, Kratia. Seeing that, Jin felt extremely uncomfortable.

Jin had died and revived with Lee Shin-Woo, but he didn't really want to be complimented for that. As a result of his inaction, though, Lee Shin-Woo was now surrounded by women and being thanked by them, which pissed him off!

But no matter how pissed he was, or how much he scraped the ground with his feet, Lee Shin-Woo wouldn't understand how he was feeling.

"Your horse is okay, too. You really are amazing to have escaped with your horse intact."

"Well, I have an escape skill. I received it from the Goddess’s Garden."

"At this point, I have no idea how many skills you actually have."

Perhaps it was because of the relief of having survived a terrifying experience, Prince had momentarily let go of her stubbornness and was genuinely in awe of him. Lee Shin-Woo responded with a simple beam. If he was honest with her, she would faint.

For a while, he continued to chat with them, and now that everyone was safe and sound, he said, "Then let's split up."

"..."

"Mm..."

It seemed like an obvious development. They had coincidentally run into Prince at the training facility, and now that they had somehow escaped that same facility, there was no reason for them to stay together anymore. However, Prince looked somewhat anxious at his sudden declaration.

"But that guy..."

"He shouldn't be able to follow us further even though he's an Archmage who specializes in spatial magic. And if he does come for us, we wouldn't be able to beat him even if we were together."

"L-Let's join up with Lloyd's group first. You're at our level now, so if we all travel together, we have nothing to fear..."

"It wouldn't be beneficial for our growth if too many heroes banded together. It's unfortunate, but we should work together next time, Senior. There will come a day when we work together again. Like when we face one of the twelve generals."

"Ugh..."

Prince looked as though she never wanted to part with them. Well, he could definitely understand why she felt that way. They had barely come out of a situation where they could've died at any time. Attachment often formed in such situations.

However, Lee Shin-Woo didn't have the time to babysit a kid forever. Therefore, he should just flat out refuse and send her away.

"Oh right. A life debt. You said you would collect my debt!"

"I'll do that later. If we meet again."

"Tch!"

In the end, Prince realized that she wouldn't be able to convince Lee Shin-Woo. With a pout, she stepped back, drying her tears and blowing her nose in her handkerchief.

"You won't let me be a part of your group. It makes me feel cheap, so I'm going. I'm not going to play with you guys anymore."

Kratia snorted. "Brat."

"Let's meet again someday, Senior,” Lee Shin-Woo said. “I hope you stay safe till then."

"...Hmph. Make sure you don't die to idiots! And you too. Next time we cross paths, my magic will be much greater than yours!"

Prince seemed actually angry as she stomped her way out of the dungeon. She was cute even until the end. Once they could no longer see her, Jin kicked Lee Shin-Woo with his front legs. It was quite the serious hit.

"Hey, what's your deal!?"

"It just pissed me off seeing you flirt with a girl at such a crucial time."

"Wait, what? What did I do...!?"

"I agree with Jin."

"Like I said, what did I do?"

Lee Shin-Woo was punished by Kratia and Jin for teasing Prince too much. He waited for them to calm down before explaining to Kratia how exactly they had survived.

He told her he was able to revive a few times in exchange for becoming a skeleton, and Kratia accepted it as truth. Because Bone Reinforcement was such a cheat skill, she had forgotten being an undead was a great penalty in and of itself.

"It's an ability that I can't comprehend..."

"But I think I understand it a little better now."

"Hmm?"

Lee Shin-Woo thought back to the walking disaster, the Archmage Feotane Von Seldin. Of course, the Archmage's overwhelming magic, his ability to control space, and his ability to freeze space all left a lasting impression on him, but there was something he had paid special attention to...

A Lich's ability to extract their life force and store it in a safe place. Perhaps...

Perhaps Invisible Heart was a similar skill.

In that case, the insight would give him a fundamental understanding of how Invisible Heart worked. While the power was still beyond Lee Shin-Woo's grasp, he was certain it was deeply linked with him.

It was as if Feotane Von Seldin's body and container were connected by a powerful magic string!

My priority should be to stay alive and keep increasing the maximum level of Invisible Heart.

Not only did he not understand how a Lich resurrected itself, but he also didn't know much about the Invisible Heart either. There was a chance that these skills weren't even related at all, but even if they were, there was no guarantee that he would be able to use the skill as he wished.

Nevertheless, compared to when he had been completely helpless at the start of this journey, he was now in a much better situation. Humanity's strength lay in their ability to push themselves forward again and again, so long as their path was clear.

"Would I be able to help you?" Kratia asked with limpid eyes.

"I'd really appreciate it if you do. Now's not the time though."

Lee Shin-Woo patted Kratia's shoulder. For some reason, he felt like they had gotten closer, and he could trust her even more.

Perhaps she was thankful that he'd used one of his lives to save her. To be honest, he'd increased the maximum level of Invisible Heart a few times now, so he still had more than 100 lives left!

"Then, shall we return to our base?"

"Okay. If we're going to be doing anything, I'd like to rest a little first."

Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t planned on keeping Kratia around, but he decided to take her with them to the base. At the end of the day, they had faced off one of the twelve generals, and a level 8 one at that; they were all extremely tired.

They needed rest, if for no other reason than to get to their next destination. Because he had used Invisible Heart, he only needed 10 more stats to get to level 7. He decided to level up in a safe location before making the next move.

"Ah, and I have to fix the artifact."

"The artifact? You didn't... Kyaa!"

Kratia threw her arms around Lee Shin-Woo excitedly, but Jin kicked her with his hind legs and sent her flying. Lee Shin-Woo gaped as the two snarled at each other. Have they become friends, he wondered with great befuddlement, or sworn enemies?