Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...
Attacks blotted out the sky, accompanied by muffled groans. Green clutched the Extreme Abyss Magic Staff as he shielded An Tuximo, who was in an extremely weakened state, behind him. More and more wounds covered Green's body, until he was nearly as battered as An Tuximo himself.
An Tuximo was like a child sheltered beneath his mentor's wings, and a sense of safety he had never known before gradually surfaced within him.
For countless epochs, An Tuximo had spent every minute and every second in cold solitude, forever guarding against life-and-death dangers that could descend at any moment. This warmth and security made him fully recall the day when, under his mentor's patient instruction, he became an official wizard and later inherited his mentor's spiritual will.
Now, seeing Mentor Green disregard everything for his sake, willing even to clash head-on with the Dimensional War Legion and end up covered in wounds, An Tuximo's heart broke.
An Tuximo would rather be the one suffering now than become his mentor's burden and make him endure such harm for his sake.
"Mentor, not only have I failed to become your pride, I have instead become your burden. Your disciple is incompetent. Your disciple is ashamed!"
His voice was mournful and trembling with emotion. An Tuximo choked out the words, and by the end he was nearly sobbing incoherently. Emotions suppressed for countless epochs finally burst forth at this moment.
After a moment of silence, Green's calm voice sounded.
"An Tu, you have always been your mentor's pride. I watched you grow step by step. Others may not understand the wisdom and hardships you poured into it, but your mentor does!"
As Green broke through layer upon layer of encirclement, constantly weaving between different paper-plane dimensions,