Addin tiptoed into the treasure vault, following the magician Khalid’s instructions. He avoided the terrifying curses guarding the vault, skillfully sidestepping any traps. Before long, he stepped into a breathtaking garden.

  The fruit trees in the garden bore gems instead of ordinary fruit—sapphires, rubies, agates, pearls, and diamonds. The dazzling brilliance of these treasures was so intense that even the midday sun paled in comparison.

  Unfortunately, Addin was still a young boy—pyful, uneducated, and utterly ignorant of the undone value of these gems.

  He had no idea that just one of these stones could make a king or a wealthy merchant green with envy!

  But right now, anxiety consumed him. He didn’t spare a gnce at the priceless treasures and walked straight through the garden, his mind racing.

  "That man who cimed to be my uncle… he’s a magician! And the moment we left home, he started treating me harshly."

  "He even knows a foreign emperor and led him and a group of terrifying warriors to guard the vault’s entrance. That’s just too suspicious."

  "Is he my uncle? If my father truly had such a powerful magician as a younger brother, why did he never mention it?"

  "And it seems like I’m the only one who can open this vault. What if this so-called uncle is just using me?"

  Addin recalled the fairy tales he had heard while pying with his friends. Evil magicians were always cunning and deceitful. What if this was all a trap for him?

  The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, until finally, he couldn’t hold back his sobs any longer.

  "If I follow the agreement and hand over the mp to that magician, will he keep his promise? Will he give me all the gold and silver in the vault and take me home?"

  "Will I even make it back home alive?"

  "Mother, I miss you!"

  Tears streaming down his face, Addin wandered into a grand and opulent hall.

  Just as he stepped inside, a clear and gentle voice rang out.

  "Child, why are you crying?"

  Startled, Addin stumbled and fell to the ground.

  There’s someone else in the treasure vault?!

  He quickly looked up and saw a silver-haired boy and a golden-haired girl gazing at him.

  The two children were around the same age as Addin. Their delicate features were so stunning that they looked like they had stepped out of a painting. Tiny, glowing specks of light floated around them, and a faint, melodious tune seemed to linger in the air. They possessed magic—these were no ordinary children.

  "Such beautiful children! Do they live in the treasure vault? But hasn’t this pce been sealed for years?"

  "Could they be deities or spirits guarding the vault?"

  "Wait a second—if they are guardians, won’t they see me as an intruder and a thief?"

  Panic surged through Addin as he hurriedly expined himself.

  “Please don’t hurt me! I’m not a thief! I didn’t mean to break in! A magician ordered me to come here. He told me to enter the hall ahead and take the oil mp hanging from the ceiling.”

  He immediately pushed all the bme onto his so-called uncle.

  “It’s okay, don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you,” Aurora comforted him gently, offering him a handkerchief. She had a feeling this boy had misunderstood something.

  Addin snapped out of his panic, took the handkerchief, and wiped away his tears. When he saw that these “guardians of the vault” meant him no harm, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

  “Child, you were crying, which means something unfortunate must have happened to you. Tell us your story,” Rhine said softly.

  As if he had finally found a savior and someone to confide in, Addin quickly and concisely recounted his ordeal.

  “So even now, I don’t know if that magician is my uncle. At first, he was kind to me, but then he turned scary…”

  Lowering his head, Addin’s tear-filled eyes glimmered with fear.

  “What if he and that foreign emperor are bad people? What should I do?”

  “Wah… Mother must think a kind uncle took me away, but she has no idea what’s happening to me. I might never see her again!”

  Overcome with despair, Addin started crying again.

  Rhine watched the sobbing boy and quickly recalled the original storyline—

  Originally, when Addin tried to leave, he hesitated to hand over the magic mp. The magician, pretending to be his uncle, suspected that Addin had grown suspicious of him. Enraged, he sealed the vault with magic, intending to leave Addin to starve to death inside. He pnned to return ter and retrieve the mp himself.

  However, the magician had forgotten that he had given Addin a magic ring for protection. Back then, Addin didn’t know about the mp’s power. Instead, he used the ring’s genie to escape the vault. Afterward, he wandered for days, starving, before finally making it home.

  But now, due to changes in the timeline, Rhine had already killed Magrido and taken the magic ring.

  That meant Addin had no magical tools to rely on this time. His only hope… was them.

  “Don’t be afraid, child. We will help you,” Rhine reassured him.

  “Really?” Addin stopped crying, eyes filled with hope.

  Rhine took out a crystal ball. Within the swirling colors, a scene gradually came into focus—it was the outside of the treasure vault.

  The magician Khalid, the Emperor of Ender, and his warriors were all gathered at the entrance, greedily staring at the vault’s opening.

  “Your Majesty, Addin will soon retrieve the magic mp. That mp holds immense power—soon, Your Majesty will become the ruler of the world, and the entire continent will bow before you!”

  Khalid bowed deeply toward the imposing emperor, his voice filled with fttery.

  “You disguised yourself as Addin’s uncle and tricked him into opening the vault. You’ve done well. Once this is over, I will grant you your brother’s former position as Ender’s chief magician, along with additional rewards.”

  The Emperor of Ender folded his arms across his chest. His bck cloak billowed in the desert wind as he envisioned his future conquests, feeling exhirated.

  Khalid then asked, “Your Majesty, once Addin retrieves the mp, what should we do with him?”

  “The secret of the mp and this vault must never be known to the outside world. These secrets will be buried here forever in the desert.”

  Understanding his meaning, Khalid smirked. “I see, Your Majesty.”

  Upon witnessing this scene, Addin gasped in horror.

  “They are bad people! That magician isn’t my uncle at all—he’s a liar!”

  Thinking back to how his so-called uncle had acted generous and kind when he first met him and his mother—taking him out to feast and travel—Addin felt furious when he realized it had all been an act.

  Then, remembering that the magician and the foreign emperor intended to kill him, he shivered.

  He grabbed onto Rhine and Aurora’s arms and pleaded, “Those bad people want to kill me. You can use magic—please, save me!”

  Rhine naturally wouldn’t refuse such a request.

  “No problem, we’ll help you. You must have noticed by now that what they truly want is a magic mp hidden in this vault. That mp possesses immense power.”

  As he spoke, Rhine raised his hand toward the ceiling. The oil mp hanging there instantly flew down, poured out its remaining oil, and nded in the boy’s left hand.

  Then, the young magician softly chanted, “Transform.”

  Immediately, an identical magic mp appeared in his right hand.

  “The magic mp… turned into two?!” Addin gasped in surprise and doubt.

  Rhine smiled and shook his head, handing the mp in his right hand to Addin.

  “This one is a fake, a replica I created. You’ll give this counterfeit to that magician.”

  Realization dawned on Addin, but he still hesitated.

  “Won’t they be able to tell it’s a fake?”

  Even though he didn’t know how to activate the mp’s magic, he was certain that Khalid, the magician, did.

  Rhine gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, just leave that to me.”

  Addin took the fake mp and turned to leave.

  Rhine then advised him, “The fruit in the garden outside—they’re all precious gemstones, the kind even emperors in the mortal world don’t possess. Take as many as you can. Once you return to the outside world, they’ll be enough for you and your mother to live a life of wealth and comfort.”

  “Really?! That means my mother won’t have to work day and night weaving cloth anymore!”

  Overjoyed, Addin repeatedly thanked Rhine before hurrying through the garden, stuffing his pockets with as many beautiful gems as he could find.

  "Thank goodness this vault has kind spirits. Not only did I escape danger, but I also got lucky!"

  As they watched Addin leave, Aurora turned to Rhine and asked,

  “Teacher, why give them a fake mp?

  “Why not just kill that magician Khalid and the Emperor of Ender?

  “That emperor and his warriors look strong, but just by listening to their footsteps, I can tell—they’re merely elite warriors, no different from the one I killed in Ender’s royal capital. Their strength is nowhere near that of the Eastern Witch in her dragon form! Let alone Maleficent.

  “Give me ten seconds, and I can take them all down by myself.”

  Rhine gently stroked Aurora’s golden hair and replied,

  “Killing them would, of course, be the easiest option.

  “But think about it—if the Emperor of Ender suddenly died in a foreign nd, wouldn’t his country be thrown into chaos?”

  Aurora fell silent.

  She wanted to say, “Wouldn’t it be good for Ender to fall into chaos?” but she also knew that innocent people would suffer in the aftermath.

  Rhine continued,

  “I’ve heard that the Emperor of Ender has several sons—strong, ambitious princes who have inherited their father’s thirst for conquest.

  “Even if we kill him, all that would change is the ruler. Ender’s invasions of other nations won’t stop.”

  Pausing for a moment, Rhine then lifted his chin slightly and added,

  “Besides, I don’t intend to simply erase Ender from the map. I want to make it so that this vast empire is completely forgotten by the entire continent.”

  His tone implied that he had the power to make that happen.

  Aurora pondered this.

  “So then, why give them a fake mp?

  “How can you be sure they won’t realize it’s a counterfeit?

  “Did you cast some kind of spell on the fake mp?”

  —

  Addin made his way back up the stone steps toward the entrance of the vault.

  The moment the boy emerged holding the mp, magician Khalid’s face lit up with excitement, and he rushed forward to grab it.

  However, the muscur warriors of Ender had anticipated this and instinctively stepped forward, blocking Khalid from getting to the mp first.

  The Emperor of Ender turned back to look at Khalid, seeing the eagerness in his eyes. As if expecting this all along, he let out a slow, meaningful sigh.

  Then, he strode forward and took the mp from Addin’s hands himself.

  Finally holding the magic mp, feeling the grime on its surface, the emperor exhaled in relief.

  He threw his head back and ughed as if already envisioning the countless kingdoms of the Western Continent bowing before him.

  Khalid hurried closer, forcing a fawning smile.

  “Your Majesty, allow me to teach you how to use the mp!”

  As he spoke, he moved beside the emperor, waiting for the perfect moment to seize the mp.

  He had to be the first to rub it, to summon the boundless power of the genie for himself!

  “Oh?” The emperor extended the mp toward him. “Go ahead. Teach me how to wield this all-powerful magic mp.”

  Khalid saw that the emperor wasn’t suspicious of him and was overjoyed. His eyes gleamed with greed.

  Eagerly, he pulled out a handkerchief.

  “Your Majesty, this mp is a bit dirty. Let me wipe it for you first…”

  Just a little more—he was just about to rub the surface of the mp!

  Any second now, he would summon the genie and gain its power!

  A dazzling smile spread across Khalid’s face, the brightest of his life.

  And in the very next moment, his smile froze.

  Scarlet blood spttered across the sand and stones of the desert.

  At some point, the emperor had drawn his sword and plunged it into Khalid’s heart.

  His strike was fast. Precise. Lethal.

  Khalid’s eyes widened in shock, locked onto the imposing and majestic emperor before him.

  His gaze was filled with disbelief.

  Why…?

  “Apologies,” the emperor said ftly. “I already know how to use the mp. The method is ridiculously simple. Your brother told me long ago.

  “My ignorance was just an act.

  “And you—just like your brother—you are cunning and completely disloyal.”

  Magician Khalid colpsed into a pool of blood, his life utterly extinguished.

  Now, both treacherous magician brothers had met their end.

  The emperor turned to look at Addin standing at the entrance of the cave, then gave his warriors a silent signal.

  “End this,” he ordered. “Then, we return home.”

  The warriors immediately understood.

  The crisp sound of bdes being drawn echoed through the desert, blending with the hot winds.

  No one who knew the secret of the mp could be allowed to leave alive.

  The wind howled, sweeping up clouds of sand. A tumbleweed rolled past their feet.

  —SWOOSH!

  In an instant, the warriors lunged at Addin, their speed so fast that they left afterimages behind them.

  Each of them was a powerhouse, capable of taking down a tiger with their bare hands. With weapons in hand, they were as deadly as an entire army.

  Seeing more than a dozen warriors rushing toward him at once, Addin squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth—

  A scream, a plea, or a final prayer?

  Perhaps all three.