Upon returning to the real world, Gerald was instantly swept by feelings of relaxation as his mind acquired newfound understanding. As it turned out, returning from that white dimension was the final step for him to gain this understanding. Looking at the soul bamboo before him, Gerald then lifted his hand… and with a swift strike using the side of his hand, he sliced the soul bamboo clean in half! Pleased to have snapped his first soul bamboo, Gerald was now a hundred percent sure of what the first soul bamboo meant. Essentially, one couldn’t just expect to see instant benefits. Things needed to be done in proper order, and only then would success come… After all, while Gerald did lose the first two Go games, after learning the rules a bit better and observing how things went on the board, step-by-step, he was eventually able to win against that old man. Regardless, upon seeing that the soul bamboo had been snapped, Tomie—who had been watching over Gerald this entire time—coul

After saying that, his inner demon began charging toward Gerald! Since the inner demon was an exact replica of Gerald, he shared the same strength and capabilities as Gerald. Naturally, Gerald noticed this, and he immediately began retreating as he dodged the onslaught of attacks! Unfortunately, since their skills were on par, Gerald’s neck ended up getting slightly cut by the sharp blade. The Astrabyss Sword’s tip had merely brushed across Gerald’s skin, yet it was already bleeding… Gerald didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if the sword struck him for real… Whatever the case was, he couldn’t allow this inner demon to get rid of him. After all, if he lost this battle, he would lose control over his body forever! With that in mind, once he was at a safe distance, Gerald drew out his own Astrabyss Sword. “Hah! Thinking of launching a counterattack?” sneered the inner demon. “You won’t have your way! I’m burying you deep in my heart so that you’ll never be able to

Whatever the case was, Gerald simply nodded before walking out of the tower… Upon exiting, he saw that Rey was taking a nap with his back leaning against the tower’s walls! Squatting down, Gerald then patted Rey’s face a few times while saying, “Hey, I wasn’t in for that long… Are you seriously sleeping here?” Quickly waking up, the shocked Rey couldn’t help but exclaim, “A-ah! Mr. Crawford! You’re finally out? I’ve been waiting for ages!” “…Ages? I’m pretty sure I’ve been in there for half an hour at most,” replied Gerald as he raised a slight brow. Then again, Rey wasn’t one to lie. Could the time in the tower move differently compared to the time in the outside world…? After all, as they said, ‘a day in heaven was equivalent to a year in the human world’. With that in mind, who’s to say that the tower didn’t function following those rules? While it wasn’t completely out of the question, it still seemed rather magical to Gerald. “…Regardless, I’ve managed to obtain the pa

“…Leave us be! All of you!” ordered Yohr at his soldiers, prompting the phantom soldiers to quickly leave the room… Once they were gone, Yohr immediately gestured for Gerald and Rey to take a seat before looking at Gerald and asking, “Now then… I wonder how I should address, good sir?” “I go by Gerald Crawford!” Nodding in response, Yohr then turned to look at Rey, cueing the boy to add, “You can just call me Rey!” “I see, I see… A pleasure to meet both of you, Gerald and Rey. I admit that I may have been a bit offensive earlier… With that in mind, I do hope that you don’t take that to heart!” said Yohr in a respectful tone as he smiled subtly. Upon hearing that, Gerald and Rey were rightfully confused. After all, Yohr’s attitude toward them had just taken a complete one-eighty! “…We don’t. Regardless, we really are just hoping to pass through Phantom City to accomplish something important elsewhere! With that in mind, I hope you’ll just let us go!” replied Gerald, not want

As it turned out, there were traps littered all over the place here to prevent intruders from entering… Either way, it was only a few minutes later before arrows finally stopped shooting out… Once they were sure that the coast was clear, the duo then cautiously peeked beyond the door again… Turning to look at the countless arrows littered on the ground, Rey couldn’t help but gulp as he muttered, “…Thank god you reacted so quickly, Mr. Crawford… Otherwise, we would’ve surely been pierced to high heaven!” “Indeed… I’m assuming even more traps await us inside. With that in mind, do be careful and stick close to me! Never walk around randomly, understand?” replied Gerald. “You don’t have to tell me twice, Mr. Crawford…!” replied the still slightly rattled Rey. Even if Gerald hadn’t said that, Rey would’ve still done the same. As if he’d dare to even move five feet away from Gerald after witnessing all that! Regardless, the duo then cautiously began entering the area… Meanwh