It felt like the seconds that passed were more like hours as William waited impatiently for Princess Jin to figure out if leaving this way was possible. There was a decent chance that she was too rattled to effectively cultivate, making the whole thing moot.

If that was the case, William would have to find out what would be the best option for escape into safety. There was a better chance that he could settle into the correct mindset to cultivate compared to Princess Jin, but if he was successful, that would mean that she would be left behind.

He shook his head as he stomped on the intrusive thoughts that entered his mind, but unlike before, he wasn’t successful in erasing them. Leaving the princess behind would solve a lot of his problems.

Assuming it would lead to her death, William would have a higher chance of keeping his strength a secret. It would no longer be necessary to put his hopes on Princess Jin’s affection toward him and be willing to keep what she had seen a secret. Honestly, that was only a viable plan in his mind since there weren’t any other options that included the princess being alive.

However, if William was forced to leave her here, it was only because he had no other choice. He didn’t want her to lose her life, but joining her in death when it wasn’t necessary was stupidity of the highest order. The benefits that came along with that were not his intention.

… Right?

“I’m sorry, Wei Liang. I can’t do it.”

William looked down to where the princess had taken a seat. She stared at him, trying to put a brave face on but failing miserably. The most telling were her glassy eyes, which he was surprised to see since they had been at the brink of death before and this level of hopelessness hadn’t set in.

He was disgusted with himself. He semi-seriously considered leaving behind the girl who refused to run, no matter how misguided that was. No, there has to be a way out of here with her alive, and he would find it.

“Your companion will be safe.”

William stiffened in surprise, noting that the princess didn’t react to the voice before looking in the direction it came from. Right at the charred fetus with far too many vines connected to it.

“She does not have the mark on her. You do. Leave this place. When you exit the secret realm, she will be freed.”

He stared at the fetus blankly, wondering if it could read his mind, too. It wouldn’t be of a surprise with how much of an open book his mind apparently was.

“Why are you looking at it like that?” Princess Jin had got back to her feet and was eying the fetus.

“Well, that answers my question,” William muttered, “It spoke to me.”

“It spoke?” Princess Jin repeated with surprise.

He nodded, wondering if he should even bother to engage. It was a good sign that it spoke to him instead of casually ending his life, but that didn’t mean he would trust what it told him. Leaving the princess still wasn’t an option.

“What is your decision?”

William tilted his head slightly. That likely confirmed that it couldn’t read his mind. A rare positive.

“You say she will be safe. How can I trust that?”

“You have the mark. Not just any mark, but one related to her. If nothing else, you can trust that your companion will not be harmed because of that.”

“Are you discussing me?” Princess Jin interrupted worriedly.

William waved off her concern, not wanting to speak to her since the fetus-like thing would also hear it.

“So you know the Dread Empress,” William ignored the princess’s gasp, “Still, you could be lying. There was a tear in space that brought us here. Why can’t you open it again to let us go?”

“That is not under my control. The Heart is not accessible to visitors. You were not anticipated.”

He froze in place.

Heart. That was a familiar word. Something the turtle mentioned once or twice in passing after he got the suicidal quest. It was going to lead him there.

It was the additional main quest, the one Sophia practically forced on him. The one the turtle would help him complete. To take the fragmented realm stone. However, while that was true, the way it spoke also implied the Heart of this realm was not located on the level with the corrupted beasts.

Perhaps the fighting giants changed that? After all, they did dig themselves from somewhere below before throwing haymakers at each other.

But that was still a flimsy possibility in William’s mind. If the turtle was so confident in leading him to the Heart, and the fetus’s claims of this being the Heart were to be believed, why was the turtle blocked from taking him out? Shouldn't it have easy access to this place?

“Shall I take your silence as a refusal?”

He stiffened when the red glow around the fetus deepened in color, black streaks seeping into the edges as if it seemed to be preparing for an attack.

“Wait!” William said quickly, “I didn’t refuse!”

The fear in his tone must have been too apparent since Princess Jin became even more jumpy than she already was.

“Take this!” She screamed as she chucked a handful of jade tokens at the fetus, making William’s eyes widen in shock.

He held his hand out uselessly at the thrown tokens, watching them sail directly to the fetus, knowing that his luck might have run out. Rather, Princess Jin’s Luck was finally working against them.

It was calling in the debts that were built up after leading them directly to this place and likely giving William miracle opportunities in his fights so far.

“YOU WILL REPE-”

He blinked as his vision exploded with blue text. It was a log of what had happened to him since he entered this place. If the wave of exhaustion hadn’t washed over him, he would have likely reacted more violently.

[Entering spatial tear]

[User’s mind subverted by external force]

[WARNING | Soul extraction in process]

[ALL ATTRIBUTES TEMPORARILY REDUCED TO 1]

[WARNING | Current attributes unable to support body]

[HEALTH | -20 per second]

William knew that he had survived the health that he had apparently been hemorrhaging, but it still made his breath hitch as he read the alert.

[-1 HP]

[Soul extraction interrupted]

[Attributes restored]

[-1380 HP]

[Body stabilized]

[User’s mind no longer under external influence]

He was staring at the alert that told him of the singular lost health point. A quick review of his memories revealed that it was caused by Princess Jin.

… William's life had been saved by a well-timed slap.

“Nothing happened to it!” Princess Jin said worriedly, not knowing the crisis he was dealing with mentally, “Wei Liang! What’s it saying now?”

William registered that he was dangerously low on health, which was nothing new but still not ideal in the current situation. He was well-practiced in the routine that followed a massive loss of health.

His hand was already filled with several Vitality Restoration Pills as he turned his attention to the fetus that had almost taken his life without him being wise to it. A terrifying opponent… was what he anticipated until he actually saw the thing.