From the moment Ophiel returned until now, though she had never asked, she had still noticed something was wrong with her.
Once, Ophiel had been resolute and full of conviction. Whatever the mission or battle, she had approached it with extraordinary pragmatism and tenacity. But ever since her return from life and death, she seemed dazed and slow in so many things. Even throughout today's battles, she had been like a walking corpse with no purpose.
More importantly...
If the great enemy they faced this time truly was the Lord of Crimson, how could the situation have become something even she could not see through?
"That bastard has been keeping things from me all along. You never told me what kind of catastrophe your Clockwork City was facing. Even that Firstborn seems to know more than I do. I never cared much about the crisis facing this city, but things have already reached this point. Are you really still going to keep hiding things from me?"
Jiu fought relentlessly, clearing away the phantoms swarming them.
She could not understand it.
Why, after coming this far step by step, did she now seem to have become an outsider instead?
Even Yan, whom she trusted most, refused to tell her another word.
She did not know where things had gone wrong.
But without knowing the truth, even she could not hope to control the course of the war. If Yan had not been her most precious younger sister, then with her old temperament, she would probably have flown into a rage and walked away long ago.
Ophiel's face was deathly pale, her eyes filled with hesitation and pain.
"I'm sorry, sister. I... I don't know how to tell you..."
The Lord of Crimson had indeed instigated this war, but the truth she