At the very moment Rane secretly took a bite, Goshimt, who was confronting the Pixie King above the dome, was jolted with shock.

‘Gone!? That huge shadow clone of mine is just… gone like that? In less than half a minute? There’s a ghost in the Pixie Hall! Can a few King-tier Pixie individuals really pull off something like this? Don’t tell me this old bastard actually hid a quasi–Calamity-tier existence inside the hall?’

The shadow clone didn’t even send back the slightest bit of feedback to the main body, as if the moment it went in, it just sat there waiting to die, without even struggling?

‘This is simply unbelievable!’

Goshimt was finally starting to panic. That half-dead Pixie King in front of him suddenly looked unfathomable. That honest-looking light orb now seemed so sinister and cunning.

‘This old thing really knows how to put on an act! Feigning weakness to lure the enemy—looks like you’ve mastered that trick!’

“Pixie King, you’ve got guts. Among the three great Pixie Kings combined, none of them have as many schemes as you. No wonder you managed to lead the Pixie Hall to hide in the spirit realm for so many years without incident.”

At this moment, the Pixie King was clearly feigning defeat. The manifested eyes stared at the trembling Pixie Hall, fear now mixed into his gaze.

He suspected that if he acted any more rashly and sent his main body in, he might end up getting trapped by this old schemer.

Who knows if there aren’t several quasi–Calamities inside the Pixie Hall right now, lying in wait for him to walk into their trap.

This old thing fighting desperately outside was probably just bait, trying to lure him into making the first move!

Once he realized this, Goshimt felt his scalp go numb.

‘Didn’t they say the Pixie race had no brains? Do those operations just now look like something a brainless race could come up with? Damn it! The more honest someone looks on the surface, the filthier their heart is underneath!’

After suffering such a stifling loss, Goshimt decided that from now on, he would steer clear of these ‘honest folk.’

‘Pixie King, you’re vicious!’

At this point, Goshimt had already lost close to forty percent of his strength and worse, it was the kind that could never be recovered.

If he kept dragging things out here, there was even the risk of his rank dropping.

This Pixie Hall—whoever wants to fight over it can go ahead.

When the Saint asks about it later, he’ll just say it was that Grand Bishop who twisted the Saint’s will on his own and sent him here without properly investigating the Pixie Hall’s combat strength.

That was nearly half of his power—gone just like that!

This was the biggest loss Goshimt had suffered in his entire existence. Without several hundred years of recuperation, his strength would probably never recover.

The thought that he might become the weakest among the Calamity-tier from now on filled Goshimt with endless grievance, making him let out a furious howl!

The Pixie King thought the other side was about to go all out and swelled with power as well, preparing to unleash his final killing move.

Who would have thought that after venting, Goshimt would simply turn around and dive deep into the spirit realm, vanishing without a trace.

He ran so cleanly it was impressive.

That shout-and-run maneuver almost made the Pixie King cough up internal injuries on the spot.

‘Calamities really do act purely on impulse. They fight fiercely and flee in disgrace—it’s utterly baffling!’

But no matter what, the Pixie Hall was ultimately preserved.

Yet thinking back to Goshimt’s repeated infiltrations earlier, it was possible that the interior of the Pixie Hall had already been eroded beyond recognition, with the Pixies likely suffering devastating losses.

This outcome was extremely hard for the Pixie King to accept. The Pixie race already struggled to give birth to new life—this might truly force them to seek shelter from other Pixie Kings.

Carrying a heavy heart, the Pixie King slowly drifted down from the dome.

However, the anticipated ruins never appeared. The number of Pixies had hardly decreased at all and even the Pixie Hall itself seemed to have suffered very little damage.

The Pixie King saw countless small light orbs divided into three groups. One group gathered around the core Jade Platform inside the hall, another clustered around Kaka, who stood there with her hands on her hips looking smug and the last group gathered around a human man below him.

‘Hm? A human? Right, today it seemed a human noble who had signed a covenant brought a junior over to broaden their horizons…’

Only then did the Pixie King remember the Pixie Covenant signing, which had been completely pushed to the back of his mind by the sudden Calamity attack.

Seeing that no Pixies seemed to be paying attention to him, the Pixie King coughed awkwardly a couple of times.

“Wow! The boss is back!”

“Is it just me, or does the boss look several sizes smaller?”

“The old thing’s about done for! I nominate Lord Kaka to take over!”

“Didn’t Kaka contract with this human? How would she be our boss?”

“Dummy! Then just let this human be boss together with her!”

Pixie thinking was always wildly unrestrained. They seemed to have already forgotten the earlier danger, gathering together and lifting the Pixie King up.

This was a unique ability of the Pixies: they could share memories with one another. They were using this method to transmit everything that had happened inside the Pixie Hall to the Pixie King.

The more he saw, the more shocked the Pixie King became, especially at the final scene where Rane suddenly stepped forward and turned the tide—it made him tremble with excitement.

That little troublemaker Kaka was always spouting some nonsense score theory in the Pixie Hall, occasionally blurting out wild remarks and even coveting his throne. The Pixie King had long found her an eyesore.

‘Damn it! Who could have imagined that such a menace would, through a single covenant, indirectly save the entire Pixie race… Kaka, you did well! All past grievances—I’ll just pretend they never happened! From now on, I’ll reward you by letting you follow this human to the real world and go cause trouble for others instead.’

“Thank you, human. It was you who protected my people and safeguarded our home. Please allow me to express my respect to you!”

Through the Pixies’ shared memories, the Pixie King saw Rane’s noble, self-sacrificing qualities.

Even Goshimt’s eventual retreat was closely tied to Rane swiftly dealing with the Calamity’s clone.

Although the Pixie King still couldn’t tell what kind of method Rane used to absorb Calamity power, that didn’t stop him from building a good relationship with the human before him.

‘If Goshimt were to return in the future, perhaps this young man could be used to resolve another crisis…’

The Pixie King thought far ahead and generously extended his friendship to Rane.

Rane responded with a humble bow, “If not for you holding the enemy at bay outside, Pixie King, we would never have been able to stand against that Calamity. You are the Pixie Hall’s greatest guardian.”

These words of praise made the Pixie King feel utterly refreshed, scratching him right where it itched.

The more he looked at Rane, the more pleasing he found him. Such a fine human and yet he ended up tied to that menace Kaka—what a pity!

“Human! Tell me your name. The Pixie Hall will forever remain open to you!”

“My name is Rane. Esteemed Pixie King, your favor leaves me deeply honored.”

Don’t be fooled by the Pixie King’s appearance—at the end of the day, he was still a Calamity-tier powerhouse, an existence far beyond Rane’s reach at present.

If a few flattering words could massively boost goodwill, why wouldn’t Rane do it?

Just two sentences and he’d already licked his way into a permanent residency right in the Pixie Hall—if it were you, wouldn’t you lick too?

Though this residency right probably should have gone to his little sis originally, huh?

‘Don’t blame me, Rita. In battles over heirs, it has always been this way!’