Martial Online.

"You are really leaving?" Bella asked, her voice and expression showed that she was very surprised.

"Yes, I am." Ambrose said with a sigh.

He didn't really want to leave before knowing she was safe in Amaterasu behind the big walls, but he felt like she would be at greater risk with him here.

After all, he was going to be hunted by Zahhak, and they were still in Hightown.

Then there were Olympos and thousands of players who wanted to hunt him down.

'Well, I promised Cerberus to give him everything I own if we win, but we didn't really win, so if he wants to get my stuff, he has to hunt me again.'

Ambrose wryly smiled, thinking that he was digging an even deeper grave for himself.

"You won't even stay for the quest?" Bella asked with a disappointed tone. "It would start tomorrow."

"It's impossible for me to participate in that." Ambrose replied while he was finishing up filling his inventory with food and water.

"I understand..." Bella sat back on the bed, dejected, but understood why he had to leave.

"When Emma comes online, wait with her for a new steam locomotive and use it to travel to Amaterasu."

After saying that, he saw that Bella simply nodded, acknowledging his words.

However, she was clearly dejected and worried about her future.

Ambrose sighed, wondering if there was a better way of doing this, but whatever he did that included him, it always seemed to end in disaster.

"Well, then..." He nodded and walked to the door. His steps seemed heavy and sluggish.

"Um, can I come with you?" Bella then picked up her handbag and asked. "I want to take you there."

"Oh, of course." Ambrose smiled and opened the door.

After leaving the inn, they basked in the sunlight as they walked down the street.

Ambrose had a small hat covering his black hair, hoping it would help him conceal his identity somewhat.

The streets seemed lively, but there was clearly heavy tension in the air.

Last night was sleepless for many as the sound of screams and fighting reverberated through every wall, waking up all the townspeople, who had to stay awake, frightened.

After a while of walking, they noticed an entourage of black-clothed figures walking solemnly in one direction, apparently heading to the cemetery.

They were the family of one of the deceased in the zombie outbreak.

They looked weary and grief-stricken, clutching each other tightly as they made their way towards the final resting place of their loved ones.

"What an unlucky family." Bella sighed with a sympathetic look. "The zombie outbreaks are apparently very rare; I heard it from a nice lady that lives near the inn. Apparently, there is a higher chance of getting crushed by a boulder."

'What a disaster.' Ambrose thought heavily. 'So, there were more zombies that I was unaware of. I expected it, but that is indeed a very unlucky incident.

'The zombie outbreaks might be rare out here, but in Warhaven, they happen every Crescent Moon Night.

'I still wonder what happened that caused the Crescent Moon Night to happen every night.

'The zombie outbreaks will definitely occur more and more from now on, as it only needs one person to make an error for it to happen.'

After crossing a street and stepping down a curb, Ambrose saw someone sitting inside a cafe at the corner table, sipping coffee.

It was someone he recognized very well.

His feet stopped, like he had crashed into a brick wall.

"Jesse?" Bella also stopped and looked at him curiously, but then saw that his line of sight was nowhere near her.

She followed his gaze and saw him looking at a beautiful, tanned girl sitting inside a cafe.

Her heart skipped a beat.

'D-does he like these kinds of flashy girls?'

"Excuse me, can you wait a moment?" Ambrose told her and crossed the street, heading to the cafe.

Bella's jaw dropped, and her mind raced with thoughts about what had just happened.

Near the cafe, Ambrose took a deep breath and stepped inside, the golden bell ringing above him.

"Welcome~" A beautiful young woman greeted him from behind the counter.

Without joining the line to order coffee, he walked over to the corner table, and as he neared it, the features of the tanned girl became more clear and recognizable.

Ambrose pulled a chair from the same table and sat down.

"Excuse me, that seat is taken." The beautiful, tanned girl said with a frown of annoyance.

Then Ambrose removed the hat, placed it on the table, and looked straight at her.

"Hello, Holly."

Her eyes widened like saucers, and a voice of disbelief escaped her lips.

"Jesse..."

"I didn't expect you to play this game." Ambrose interlaced his fingers and leaned back in the chair with a thoughtful look. "Well, you did try to steal my headset once."

"W-why are you here?" Holly asked in disbelief as she stared at him, her lips trembling. "What do you want?"

"You didn't reply to my message." Ambrose sighed, and his tone of voice turned a little bit gentler. "Zach said something was wrong with you."

"It's nothing." Holly looked away from him, glancing in the direction of the women's bathroom. 'Allison will be back soon...'

"I don't believe you, and I won't leave until you tell me the truth." Ambrose said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Holly glanced at him, and her eyes trembled.

She had gotten used to seeing her brother as weak and pitiful, but now, inside Martial Online, he was very dominant with an impressive presence.

Presence of a true powerhouse.

"I..." Her voice trembled, and eventually, under his powerful presence, she sighed and said, "Mother and father will divorce soon."

Ambrose's eyes widened in shock. "What? When I left, everything was just fine. It had barely been few weeks since then!"

"It all changed after the day of that rooftop incident." Holly sighed. "I asked Terry whether they had really given up your custody, and he was very adamant that they hadn't.

"However, a seed of doubt began to grow inside his mind, and he became very angry, not believing a single thing our mother said to him.

"She must've tricked him into signing those papers somehow...

"I just don't understand why."

Ambrose sighed, and since she was his sister, he decided to tell her why.

"Because Terry is not my biological father."

"W-w-what?" Holly stammered, shocked by the revelation.

"My real father is Jack Rothsmith." Ambrose said and then began telling her everything that Jack told him during their first-ever meeting.

Holly listened in silence, sometimes opening her mouth in shock and sometimes just sitting with a stunlocked expression.

After he was done, she lowered her head and softly whispered.

"I see..." She chuckled. "No wonder; your Humanoid Imperfecta can only be inherited. I just thought that our grand-grand-grandfather had it or something."

"What will you do if they get divorced?" Ambrose asked.

"I'll move out with our mother, probably." Holly said and took a sip of her coffee. "I don't want to stay with father."

Ambrose nodded and said, "I'll probably visit them soon."

"Why?" Holly asked in confusion.

"They don't want me; I'll show them that it's me who doesn't need them." He sighed. "I'll properly end things with them face-to-face."

"It won't end well." Holly said, but then smiled. "Maybe that is for the better."

Ambrose nodded and stood up. "It was nice seeing you; take care."

"Wait." Holly grabbed him by the arm and said, "I am sorry for how I treated you..."

Ambrose looked at her, bit his lip, and asked, even though he was not sure whether he wanted the answer.

"Why did you treat me this way? I understand that our parents felt like I was a big waste of money because of my condition, but I thought you, of all people, would be there to support me."

"I thought you would kill yourself." Holly said with a painful look. "You used to be so cheerful, cheering my day with your smile. You were my hero, but after that stairs incident, you became so gloomy.

"I didn't want to wait to be called to the principal office, where our parents waited, to deliver those news!

"I expected that to happen every day!"

Holly then lowered her head with tears streaming down her face.

"At one point, I stopped caring. I thought that it would make losing you much easier, but I was wrong... I am sorry!"

Ambrose's eyes shook, with painful memories flooding back.

After the incident, where he fell down stairs and shattered his legs, he indeed became very gloomy.

Every night, while lying on the hospital bed, he dreamed of dying.

'She isn't wrong. I truly thought about that possibility, and without Martial Online, that might've been how my life would end...'

"I forgive you." Ambrose said, grabbed his hat, put it on, and then left the cafe without saying another word.

Holly stayed there, standing with tears running down her face, while the rest of the cafe watched in silence, thinking that it was just another couple that had broken up.

Near the women's bathroom, Allison watched in secret with an interested expression.

'Jesse was actually here? I wonder what he said to Holly that made her cry.'

Outside the cafe, after Ambrose and Bella left the vicinity of the cafe, a yellow-haired young man's head popped up behind the corner with a pale face.

"Now it's your chance." Behind him, 89John and Beehave stood with their arms crossed against their chests.

'Shit...' Olympos forced a smile. "A-alright, make the announcement. I'll start the stream."