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The situation had become increasingly dire.

News from the north revealed that a starbeast had attacked Truth’s Light.

Though they had managed to dispose of the enemy thanks to the Arcane Emperor’s clone, the scattered invaders had still inflicted unimaginable losses and calamity onto the Arcane Empire.

Rural villages and cities fell one after another. Human settlement after human settlement was slaughtered and put to the torch. Morrian didn’t have much time left.

Naturally, the higher-ups of the Arcane Empire knew everything about the disasters that Morrian Plane was facing. However, when the news reached the middle management, the information was a lot simpler and incomplete. By the time it reached your average arcanist, the information was already too unclear to be fully trusted.

The ordinary citizens at the lowest levels had already been abandoned. Of course, this meant that they had no idea what disaster had befallen them.

A large-scale selection of arcane apprentices arrived just like this.

The deadline for selecting the apprentices had not approached yet. In the meantime, floating cities all over the world sent out compulsory orders to their subordinate regions to send their most excellent apprentices for the selection to come.

Large groups of talented children were chosen and sent to the floating cities. It allowed the cities to become vibrant with life again, even in the face of war and danger.

The Empire was retreating; that news was no longer a secret. Instead, it had become a fiercely debated topic amongst arcanists and apprentices.

Most arcanists were on the list of retreating personnel, but the number of apprentices was significantly smaller.

As the arcane center of the Rian Province on the Kentos Continent, Reisin Garden was home to over thirty thousand arcane apprentices. In addition to the newly arriving apprentices, the number was pushing fifty thousand.

However, the information leaked from above showed that the Arcane Empire could only take on a maximum of four thousand apprentices from Reisin Garden.

After all, the entirety of the Arcane Empire spanned seven continents, over twenty provinces, and seventy-six floating cities. Even if every floating city were to select four thousand apprentices, that would make for a massive total of three hundred thousand apprentices.

Moreover, apart from the future generation, each floating city still had to bring with them a large number of arcanists, arcane equipment, facilities, resources, materials, and rations.

In all honesty, the Arcane Empire had to grit their teeth and abandon the arcanists with no future potential for development to put together this quota of four thousand apprentices.

However, those at the bottom of society would never be able to understand the painstaking lengths that their leaders had gone to in planning all this. They could only stubbornly compare the numbers.

Fifty thousand against four thousand.

The difference in number was so vast!

If these units were the number of gold coins, it would be enough of a difference to shock a person. However, when these units were human lives, the value was so incredibly large that it was inestimable.

These days, everyone in Reisin Graden was in a state of panic. All the arcanists were busy with the logistics of transferring and moving resources, resulting in most arcane organizations and facilities being put on hold. The confused arcane apprentices either asked about the list of retreating personnel or–knowing well enough that they had no chance of making the list–silently packed their baggage and returned home.

Even though they had no means of knowing how the war was progressing on the frontlines, or what the higher-ups’ plans were, they could all see with their own eyes the direness of the Empire’s circumstances.

There had already been six or seven terrifying cases of floating cities being attacked by invaders within the Arcane Empire. Even though most of the attacks were repelled and the enemies defeated, two of the floating cities had fallen in battle. They crashed from the skies amidst the howling of tens of thousands of lives.

Floating city crashing. Such incidents had rarely occurred in the ten thousand-year history of the Arcane Empire. As such, the confidence of the citizens was greatly shaken.

The floating cities were no longer eternal gardens in the sky. They were no longer the absolute safe harbor that they had always been in the hearts of all citizens of the Arcane Empire. News from all over the world also indicated that large cities and floating cities were often the final targets of the invading monsters.

As the sun set on the Arcane Empire, staying within a floating city no longer provided any sense of safety. Instead, it only inspired more worry and concern.

Several clans of arcanists who did not qualify for the retreat found a different path forward. They forged new shelters in the most remote and hidden locations on each continent, preparing themselves for the apocalypse that was to come.

Even the arcane apprentices that did not make the list were in a hurry to return home. They wanted to obtain the best location in these safe shelters for themselves and their families as soon as possible. These apprentices were also trying their best to recruit unassociated high-grade apprentices to strengthen the clan they were joining and to obtain a greater voice in these shelters.

As a beauty who was known as an advanced apprentice in both alchemy and golem creation, Lucia naturally found herself the recipient of many offers. Unfortunately, Lucia was not moved by any of these offers. She rejected everyone firmly and lived life as she always had, spending her days busy in the arcane laboratories, the libraries, and the academy.

On this day, Lucia walked down the familiar white path with a stack of arcane tomes in her arms. Several apprentices walked past her in a hurry. There were no longer any smiles on anyone’s faces. There were no young forms to be seen on the soft beaches or the beautiful fountains. The entire floating city had been engulfed in a downcast atmosphere of pain and despair.

Lucia walked forward silently with her head bent down.

It wasn’t until a familiar sleeve appeared in her vision, along with a pair of fine arcane boots, that she stopped in her tracks. She looked up in surprise.

In front of her was the handsome young apprentice, Soren.

His forehead was locked into a frown, and his face was pale as if he was being mentally tortured by something.

“Soren, you...haven’t left?” Lucia clasped her mouth in shock.

Soren’s looked at Lucia’s bright and pretty eyes. He opened his dry mouth several times before finally speaking.

“My grandfather has decided to retreat today.”

“Congratulations! I am happy for you.” A sincere smile appeared on Lucia’s face.

Soren looked at Lucia’s face carefully, pain in his eyes. He could not find the slightest facade or mockery in her smile.

“My grandfather is calling me to leave already. I just want to ask you one last time. You...are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

Lucia slowly stopped smiling and shook her head solemnly.

“Lucia, I...I take back what I said before. I won’t use this quota to force you to do anything. You...you will be free. Come with me. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. I just want you to come with me. Is that okay?” Soren said with much difficulty. His face was twisted in pain. It was obvious that it had taken tremendous resolution to arrive at this decision.

Lucia was stunned for a second. She then smiled beautifully.

She took a step forward, caressed Soren’s face, and willingly offered her first kiss.

Just as Soren was overwhelmed with joy and tried to embrace her, Lucia took a firm step back and escaped his arms.

“Leave, Soren!” Lucia’s little face was blushing from the kiss. It was an enchanting sight, “This kiss will be my farewell gift. We might not be able to see each other ever again, so...I hope you leave without any lingering attachments. I hope you continue to work hard for the future of the Empire and the legacy of the arcane civilization!”

“No...Lucia, I...I can’t leave you here!” Soren clearly couldn’t accept the reality before him, having fallen from a mountain of bliss to the depths of the abyss. Even his voice was hoarse.

“I won’t leave!” The embarrassment faded from Lucia’s face as her eyes took on an unusual and sacred light, “My life belongs to the arcane! Even if death is staring at me the very next moment, I will not stop moving forward. That was my oath when I chose to become an arcane apprentice. It is also my lifelong pursuit. Even without this calamity, we were destined not to be together! I hope you can understand me.”

Soren’s expression was pained and sorrowful.

After a long pause, he finally stepped aside.

Lucia stared at him deeply and hurried back on her way.

Tears rolled down Soren’s cheek as he watched that beautiful yet determined figure disappear into the distance. It felt like a thousand knives in his heart.

An old arcanist had appeared beside Soren some time ago. He silently looked in the direction Lucia had disappeared, unconcealable loneliness and agony in his gaze.

“She is a good girl. Unfortunately, she does not belong to you!” The old man said casually in a melancholy tone, “If I had no attachments like her, I might have made the same choice. Sadly...”

The old man lowered his head and brooded in silence for a moment. Once he had recovered from his emotions, he lifted his head once again.

“Let’s go, Soren! There is no more hope here. The task of rebuilding a new Arcane Empire in a different world is not an easy one either. Your future does not lie here, but far away elsewhere. The glory of the arcane, the honor of the family. We are old now. You will have to be the one to pass on and carry forward this legacy of ours. So, get your spirits together and grit your teeth. Live strong, for the Arcane Empire, for the Jonas household.”

Soren’s body trembled slightly.

After a long pause, he finally wiped away his tears. He turned towards his grandfather and nodded, “I understand. Let’s go, granddad.”

Then, the two of them vanished in a flash of white light.