Chapter 8 opens in a strange and disorienting way.
After falling off the cliff at the end of Chapter 7, Arthur Leywin briefly believes he has somehow returned to his old life as King Grey. He finds himself back in the castle from his previous world and reflects on what his life used to be like.
These memories reveal something important about Grey: despite being powerful and admired, he was deeply lonely. He realizes that his old life was empty he had strength and status but almost no meaningful relationships. He thinks about how he chased achievement while missing ordinary experiences and human connection.
Then reality snaps back.
Arthur wakes up injured in the wilderness at the bottom of the cliff. Confused and in pain, he discovers the body of the enemy mage nearby and realizes he somehow survived the fall. He’s weak, hungry, and unable to understand why he escaped with relatively minor injuries.
While trying to recover and move, Arthur suddenly hears a mysterious female voice speaking to him.
At first, he assumes he’s hallucinating or being attacked, but the voice calmly tells him she means no harm and says she can guide him home. Even more strangely, Arthur notices that his condition slowly improves while following her instructions, suggesting the speaker is helping him with magic from somewhere nearby.
Arthur cautiously follows the directions through the forest. The voice teases him occasionally but continues guiding him toward a hidden destination. Eventually, she leads him to what looks like an ordinary rock formation and instructs him to enter a narrow opening.
Arthur goes in… falls into darkness…
…and finally comes face-to-face with the owner of the voice:
Sylvia.
The chapter ends there.
Chapter 7 changes the tone of the story dramatically.
While traveling through the mountains with the adventurer group Twin Horns, Arthur Leywin and his family are suddenly ambushed by a large group of bandits. Their escape routes are blocked and they’re attacked from multiple directions, including archers positioned above them.
The experienced adventurers react immediately:
Reynolds Leywin organizes the defense.
Durden Walker creates protective earth barriers.
Angela Rose, Adam Krensh, Helen Shard, and Jasmine Flamesworth fight to hold off the attackers.
Arthur watches the battle unfold and realizes something important: combat in this world isn’t like controlled training—it’s violent and chaotic. Despite retaining King Grey’s memories, he feels frustrated because his young body limits what he can do.
Then the emotional turning point happens.
Arthur learns that his mother, Alice Leywin, has been acting strangely because she’s pregnant. Reynolds entrusts Arthur with protecting her and tells him to escape if things go wrong.
During their escape, a hidden enemy launches a powerful water spell toward Arthur and his mother. Arthur reacts instantly using mana and throwing himself into danger to protect her. In the struggle, he disrupts the attack but ends up falling off the cliff with the enemy.
As he loses consciousness, Arthur’s final thoughts are heartbreaking: he regrets that he may never get to meet his unborn sibling, but he’s relieved that his family survived.