"Really? That's great, it's really great that he's okay..."

When Barbara heard that Andrew was not in life-threatening danger, she finally felt relieved.

The tension in her heart eased.

Before she knew it, her vision went dark and she fainted.

Linda hurried forward to check and treat her, made some emergency treatments, and then breathed a sigh of relief: "No problem, no problem, the third young miss isn't seriously injured." She turned to her subordinates and said, "Grand Mage Falk, Mr. Ivan, and the other wounded, let's attend to them quickly as well.

As for Lord City Guard..."

Speaking of which, Linda's expression darkened.

City Guard Jimmy had previously been sent to the Warm Fire Temple.

Linda had rushed over after checking on Jimmy's condition.

Jimmy was the only casualty in this battle.

The strongest Shield Knight of this Commerce Association hadn't died in the Twin Flames Battle but died after it.

Although Linda wasn't very fond of Jimmy when he was alive, just like Falk wasn't.

She couldn't help but feel sad nonetheless.

"Phew! Now is not the time to feel sad."

Linda took a few deep breaths to suppress her unstable emotions.

Though the assassin had left, the treatment for the injured from the short but fierce battle earlier was just beginning.

"After emergency treatment, quickly take everyone back to the Warm Fire Temple."

Linda finally said.

Just then, she suddenly seemed to notice something and widened her eyes.

Only to see that in her unconsciousness, Barbara was tightly holding onto Andrew's hand.

And Andrew, even in his unconscious state, instinctively grasped Barbara's small hand back.

After the assassin left and darkness retreated, the sunrise began.

Under the initial rays of dawn, the young man and woman, despite being injured and unconscious, instinctively held onto each other's hand.

Fingers intertwined!

Neither Andrew nor Barbara could have predicted that on the eve of their group's arrival at Warm Fire City, they would encounter such a sudden attack.

Though it was true that they couldn't defeat the female assassin right now, and surviving was partly due to luck, once alive there's always hope, and what couldn't be done now can be avenged in the future, retrieving all the threats and humiliation of that night.

Moreover, through this battle, Barbara realized how good Andrew was to her—Andrew's act of pushing her away without regard for himself was completely instinctive, which made it all the more precious—and how much she liked Andrew.

This led to the two now holding hands together.

Linda saw this scene and her expression changed repeatedly: "—This!"

It wasn't because of this sudden display of affection.

At her age, Linda wasn't that sensitive to this kind of thing.

Besides, she actually liked seeing romantic developments and being fed displays of affection.

Back when the second young miss hadn't married into the Royal Court yet, she used to be a super goddess and top star of the Flame Realm. In the Flame Realm, there were romantic dramas played through Magic Image. Linda's biggest hobby in the past was to stay home and watch romantic films starring the second young miss, never getting enough.

Now over forty, single from birth, yet seeing the moment Andrew and Barbara held hands, Linda still felt a surge of instinctive excitement.

After the excitement, she was shocked, stern, and even a bit terrified!

"So the third young miss, and Mr. Andrew, are actually... in that kind of relationship?!"

Linda then recalled the scene of Barbara protecting Andrew earlier and couldn't help but further confirm, "So that's why the third young miss would—"

It's foreseeable that the female assassin's matter is bound to cause huge waves internally within the Commerce Association.

However, in Linda's view, if the relationship between the third young miss and Andrew is really as she thinks, then once this affair is exposed, it won't cause much less of a scandal than that of the female assassin!

"Because, because of the third young miss's special identity—this, this this..."

Linda was internally stirred with crashing waves.

She suddenly shouted irritably, "Why are you all standing around? Hurry up and take everyone back to the Warm Fire Temple!"

Her subordinates: "??"

They thought, although Captain was fierce, she usually was reasonable; weren't they already working hard!

In fact, Linda only deliberately shouted loudly, scaring the crowd a bit while secretly taking the opportunity to gently separate Andrew and Barbara's clasped hands. Truth be told, they were holding on tightly, Linda almost didn't manage to separate them.

Finally separating the two young people, Linda confirmed that no one else noticed, and then secretly sighed in relief.

"Come on, let's all work well and take everyone back to the Warm Fire Temple."

Linda felt a bit embarrassed and comforted her subordinates who she had just inexplicably yelled at.

The team members, on the other hand, felt even more creeped out: "Perhaps you'd better stay fierce, Captain... Your kind appearance is even more frightening!"

Linda: "..."

She was, after all, a medical personnel with a not very sharp perception ability.

What she missed noticing was: among the crowd, Havier had actually seen Linda separating Andrew and Barbara's clasped hands.

Havier's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight.

His gaze shone faintly in the gradually brightening daylight.

No one knew what he was thinking.

...

...

Dawn broke.

Just as Linda had predicted, though the female assassin had left, her arrival and previous actions were akin to throwing a giant stone into the temporarily calm waters after the Twin Fires War!

Aside from anything else, the fact that the city guard of the Shield of Flowing Fire was killed was enough to impact the entire situation.

Previously, Peter, the First Knight at the front line, didn't have to consider any defensive issues; he only needed to manage the two fortresses, "Crimson Battle Lance" and "Dragon's Nest." Now, however, he was forced to consider a question: Is the rear really secure?

With the stone cast into the water, one circle of waves and ripples after another would continue to emerge...

At the same time, a question that had been previously overlooked by people was finally being raised by more and more individuals.

Why Andrew?

The Twin Fires War had obviously reached a temporary halt.

Yet the enemy took the risk of potentially losing a top-tier expert, penetrating deep into our territory, all to assassinate an obscure young Tier Three mage?

To say what shouldn't be said: Could the assassin not see that it was Barbara, the third young lady of the Commerce Association, right beside Andrew?

Currently, the Magic Guild's super fortress "Dragon's Nest" had fallen into the hands of the Warm Fire Commerce Association.

If they captured Barbara, perhaps they could use her as leverage to compel the Commerce Association to voluntarily give up the "Dragon's Nest"! Of course, it could also reignite the conflict...

But no matter what, disregarding Barbara and going directly for Andrew seemed entirely illogical to many, beyond their comprehension!

Curiosity breeds attention, and attention leads to investigation.

Thus, quickly, some of the actions of Andrew at the Warm Fire Temple—and even matters like the Farmer's Spring—began to be uncovered.

However, the fact that Andrew transformed a Desolate Beast back into a human, thereby influencing the situation in the Twin Fires War, still remained an unknown domain to the vast majority.

But in any case, the name "Andrew," after this battle, began to be known by many.

Andrew himself, however, remained in a coma.

In his unconscious state, Andrew was naturally unaware of the many changes outside, or even of Barbara's standing up for him after he fell.

He felt as if he were on a ship.

Or perhaps in a cradle, rhythmically rocking, drowsy yet warm and secure.

At some point, the rhythmic rocking disappeared.

So, he fell right back into a deep, dazed slumber.

The Water Magic Power silently flowed within his body.

His Water Soul Constitution automatically activated a dormant mechanism, allowing Andrew to self-heal in deep sleep, curing even the subtle, deep wounds he had sustained from his clash with the female assassin.

In this way, not only was the risk of leaving aftereffects eliminated, but in the process of being wounded and then healing, his own strength could further advance!

To explain it using the principles of the "Fire Extinguishing Upgrade Method"—

Surviving a confrontation with a Fire Element master from the Magic Guild and recovering from such injuries was a top-tier level fire extinguishing mission in itself. The Fire Extinguishing Value earned would perhaps exceed any previous fire extinguishing efforts by Andrew.

The only disadvantage was that once falling into sleep, he lost consciousness and essentially had no personal defense during this time.

He didn't know how long he slept like this.

At some moment, the last deep-seated injury within his body was properly self-treated and resolved.

Andrew thus naturally and gradually opened his eyes.

Above him was a high ceiling.

Beneath him was a large bed, soft with perfect support.

The room had drawn curtains, making it somewhat dim.

It seemed... not like the room at his own mansion? Could it be that after he was injured, Captain Linda had taken him to the Warm Fire Temple? But he didn't recall there being such a spacious independent ward at the Warm Fire Temple.

Andrew didn't dwell on it for the moment.

Nor did he get up, instead closing his eyes again and resting quietly.

The fact that he could awaken in such a room indicated that after his confrontation with the female assassin, though he had fainted and lost the ability to resist further, he had not been killed afterward.

For the first time, he felt a strong sense of relief and gratitude: It's good to be alive!

"Awake?"

Ivan sensed Andrew waking and asked through the "Soul Whisper Channel."

"Awake."

Andrew replied. He could feel that Ivan was actually in a nearby room, less than a hundred meters away in a straight line.

There wasn't much else that needed saying between them.

Ivan merely added, "I'll update you regularly on the progress of my strength later."

Andrew nodded, "Okay."

As partners, indeed they needed to understand each other more.

They couldn't allow Andrew to face life-or-death crises again without knowing that Ivan's strength had actually returned to Tier Seven.

"Regarding my strength, I'll discuss more with you later too." Andrew thought for a moment and added another sentence.

"Alright."

Then there was silence.

Andrew didn't prioritize checking his physical condition for the time being. After confirming that Ivan was fine, he quietly activated a magic artifact he used for communication with An Ya.

When leaving the Wildfire Territory, Andrew had considered not choosing to use the Warm Fire Commerce Association's Heart Net. Instead, in the "Magic Artifacts" section of his "Water God Mark," he had found a Water Magic Artifact named "Seagull," used for long-distance communication as a tool to contact An Ya while away from his territory.

Upon opening the "Seagull" information bar, a whole slew of messages from An Ya popped up.

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