“How is he?” King 67 asked, with no emotion in his voice.


    “He’s okay,” Selene answered as she finished treating Edward’s wounds. Her tone was icy and sharp.


    In the days leading up to the duel, she had barely spoken a word to King 67, mostly choosing to ignore his presence.


    Sighing, King 67 sat down on a wooden stool next to Conradin. The smell of makeup filled his nose, causing him to instinctively scrunch it up.


    Choosing to be sensitive, he got up from the stool and moved to the side of the room.


    Conradin chose to remain silent instead. Unlike Selene, Conradin had not even spoken a single word—not just to King 67, but to everyone else too. He seemed to be mute, so he communicated through hand signs.


    King 67 turned to look at Edward once more. He seemed to be in severe condition, with many wounds and broken bones. However, King 67 wasn''t particularly worried about him. Edward was an Osworl after all, so he had an incredibly strong body. At this rate, Edward would probably be able to walk in two or three days.


    After the duel, the guards had quickly escorted King 67 away for a medical check, while the medical team got Edward and the Architect on stretchers to treat them right away. As King 67 left the stadium, he could hear the angered screams of the audience, and the local police desperately trying to keep them in check.


    After that, King 67 passed the medical check, which was only conducted by one person. Meanwhile, the more critically injured Edward was quickly rushed to a surgery room, and his life was saved. After a few hours, he was brought to a normal patient’s room in the local hospital. Compared to Edward, who only had about four intern doctors saving him, a whole team of specialised doctors was assigned to save the Architect’s life. He seemed to have had a cardiac arrest during the fight.


    More importantly, what was that feeling I felt during the duel? It felt like a beast was eating me through my stomach. If Edward had not been there, I most certainly would not have recovered from that feeling. Is it connected to the reason I laughed that day? Was it fear? There was also guilt, right?


    King 67’s mind was full of questions. Trying to reawaken his emotions, he kept thinking about how he inflicted fear upon many of his enemies, but he could not feel the guilt he had felt.


    Suddenly, a doctor opened the door.


    “The Architect has woken up and wishes to meet you, Tom,” he said.


    Intrigued, King 67 followed the doctor out, catching a sharp click of frustration as he passed Selene.


    The doctor, with a stoic face, led King 67 to the Architect’s room. Walking inside, King 67 noticed that it was much bigger than Edward’s room, and the Architect had several nurses watching him.


    “Ah… you’re here,” the Architect said upon seeing King 67.


    He was lying on a comfortable hospital bed with many herbal remedies on the table next to him and seemed much weaker than before.


    “Nurses, you may leave,” the Architect politely told the nurses.


    “But, sir…”


    “You may leave,” the Architect said again, this time more sternly.


    Reluctantly, the nurses left the room one by one, casting King 67 hostile glances as they left.


    After the door closed, King 67 spoke up, “Sir…”


    “Please, call me Artorius,” the Architect, or rather, Artorius requested.


    King 67 recovered from his initial surprise rather quickly and continued, “Artorius, why have you called me here?”


    “Hmm?” Artorius’s eyes widened in surprise.


    “Did you… give me my glitch?”


    “What do you mean? Of course, I have not,” King 67 was rather confused.


    “Yes… of course, you haven’t. Your voice… it’s… no, my memory’s probably messing with me…”


    “Artorius…?”


    “Ah, first, I’ll show you something,” Artorius said, snapping back to reality.


    He looked straight at the floor and asked King 67, “Do you know what material this floor is made of?”


    “It is made of wood,” King 67 answered.


    “You are absolutely correct,” Artorius remarked.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    At that moment, King 67 realised what Artorius was going to do. He let out a gasp as he jumped backwards to avoid the block of wood that would shoot up, but nothing happened.


    “As I thought, I’ve lost my glitch,” Artorius revealed the shocking news.


    Can you lose a glitch?


    “Turns out you can lose your glitch, ha…” Artorius said, as though responding to King 67’s earlier thought.


    “It seems I have lost myself, no… I have lost my identity as a god.”


    This confused King 67, but he continued to ask, “So what is your reason for calling me here today?”


    "You''re not wasting any time, are you?" Artorius chuckled softly, though there was an unmistakable hint of sadness in his voice. "I suppose I just wanted to see the face of the man who finally defeated me."


    “...I did not defeat you, Edward did. He communicated with me through sign language and told me to sneak up on you while he distracted you,” King 67 explained.


    Artorius at least deserved to know the truth.


    “Well… that’s pretty smart,” Artorius smiled. “I never would have thought of that. It seems… I really am not a…”


    Artorius’s voice trailed off, as did his thoughts, but he was quickly snapped back to reality when he noticed King 67 looking at him, confused.


    Smiling sadly, he continued, “Tom… have you realised? I could’ve ended it in an instant if I wanted to. Your shirts—just a twist, a pull with my glitch, and you both would’ve fainted. But I didn’t. Instead, I chose to hit Edward in the stomach with the ground, to make him suffer. And I… I think it’s because I enjoyed it. …What does that make me?”


    That last line was filled with so many emotions that even King 67 could not discern all of them.


    Yet, it was that feeling again, that instinct, his gut, that compelled King 67 to speak up.


    “Don’t you think that maybe… you’re being too hard on yourself?” King 67 asked.


    Surprised, Artorius turned to look at King 67.


    “Well,” King 67 continued, “Maybe you did not strangle me and Edward because you were scared you would kill us. Maybe you only hit Edward in the stomach to give him a chance to fight back. And you have led this city towards success, have you not?”


    What… a weak argument.


    “Everyone makes mistakes, we are only human after all.”


    Artorius probably will not listen to what I have to say.


    “Yes, we are human after all…”


    Surprisingly, it seemed to work, especially the last line.


    “Tom, come closer. I want to look at your face,” Artorius requested.


    Weirdly, King 67 listened and leaned in to let Artorius see his face clearly.


    “You have a nice face, the scar on your nose complements your looks well. Your hair is quite neat as well,” he remarked.


    At that moment, his eyes widened.


    “Let me see your coat.”


    Before King 67 could react, Artorius was already pulling his coat off.


    “This is…” Artorius seemed extremely surprised at the marking on the inside of King 67’s coat. He held it tightly in his hand.


    The inside of King 67’s light blue coat had the marking of a clown’s face on it.


    “You are…”


    “I have to…”


    Intrigued, King 67 leaned forward.


    “I have to pass you a message.”


    “Yes?”


    “Go north, towards Ewindurch. You will find the next joker there. Go there, and find the next piece—that is the message he told me to pass on to you.”


    “Who wanted you to pass it on to you?”


    “The man… who recruited me as one of the jokers. He told me to pass it on to the man with the marking of a clown’s face on his light blue coat. That’s all I know.”


    The coat? That coat was given to me by my father as a present for my fourteenth birthday. No, setting that aside, the joker in Ewindurch should be Hejer. But Ewindurch is all the way in the next region, the Bejin region. I would have to cross through so many countries before reaching there.


    There was a momentary silence as King 67 continued to sort out his thoughts.


    Suddenly, someone burst through the door.


    It was Edward, who stumbled to the ground. Selene and Conradin came in quickly and helped Edward up, then closed the door behind them.


    “What? How are you here? How did you find this room?” King 67 asked.


    “I threatened the doctor to tell me where the Architect is… That is not important! Tom, how could you meet with the Architect without me?!”


    Edward, despite having bandages around his wounded body, still rushed to this room, and this was his reason...


    So that was what he was worried about…? And his body recovered faster than I thought. Did he wake up just as I left the room? It’s only been a day after the duel!


    “Well, it’s good that you’re here,” Artorius spoke up. “Please call me Artorius. Now… since the two of you are here…”


    Artorius rose from his bed and stumbled onto the ground, shocking everyone in the room.


    “Allow me to formally apologise for my actions in the duel. I went too far.”


    Artorius kneeled then bowed, touching his forehead to the ground. This was called the true apology position, which someone only performed when they are sorry from the bottom of their hearts, and it represents submitting entirely to the person they are bowing to. It was rarely used, and when used, it would strip the person of all their honour.


    For him to do this…


    “I see…” Edward remarked.


    “I shall keep this a secret,” he said. “And I accept your apology.”


    Edward seemed to have calmed down.


    “As do I,” King 67 said.


    Having the courage to admit to his mistakes in such a situation was impressive. In response, Edward admitted his mistake as well.


    “And I am sorry…” Edward added. “For saying you have a god complex. It seems I was wrong.”


    “And that form, that stance of which you asked me where I had learnt it from—I had learnt it from my master,” Edward said.


    “Who… what did your master look like?” Artorius asked, his voice breaking.


    “He had golden eyes, and striking features. He was exceptional with the sword. In fact, this sword of mine was his.”


    “Is he still…”


    “He has passed,” Edward answered curtly.


    “I see… I expected as much,” Artorius was starting to cry.


    “You may rise.”


    By the time Artorius got up, tears had stained his entire face.


    “Please… let me see the sword,” Artorius pleaded.


    After a slight hesitation, Edward handed it to him.


    He looked dearly at the large majestic sword as he cradled it.


    After a long time, he loosened his grip on the sword.


    “I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he said, as he handed the sword back to Edward.


    Everyone in the room stared at the old man in amazement.


    Suddenly, the touching moment was interrupted by someone bursting into the room.


    How many times has this happened now…?


    It was a guard with sturdy silver armour all over his body and a beautiful silver helmet over his head.


    He dropped to his knees and, with urgency in his voice, announced, “From the castle: The King of Babylaind has a message for Tom and Edward, the challengers in the recent duel with the Architect. He requests that you come to the castle at once—as he wishes to meet with you."