[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela":3,"chapter-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-83":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Exiled from the Start and Dominating the Wasteland with an Intelligence System",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1688683,2155,"Chapter 83 : Chapter 83","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-83",83,"\u003Cp>Chapter 83. An Ill-Fated Bond\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene’s eyes flew open. The lingering daze and attachment in those star-filled eyes receded like a tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In their place came an overwhelming wave of humiliation and fury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She could clearly feel the weight and warmth of another body, and...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That unbearable touch, along with the tangled memories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get off!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The icy word burst from between her clenched teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli, who was pressed over her, jolted violently. In an instant, he was fully awake, shaken out of the lingering haze and bodily exhaustion left behind by the chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He practically rolled and scrambled off Irene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the cramped space, only the two of them remained, breathing in rough, suppressed gasps, along with...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A suffocating cold and unbearable awkwardness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s heart pounded wildly. He did not dare look at Irene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That madness born of desperation and illusion a moment ago...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That century-long life as husband and wife, carved into the bone, clashing violently against who they were in reality...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It left his mind in utter disarray, shame swallowing him whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness...” He drew a deep breath and gathered what little courage he had left. “This matter... was entirely my fault. I... lost my senses... I will—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shut up!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene’s frigid voice cut him off at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sat up and, with stiff movements, began straightening her disheveled robes. She kept her back to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you dare say one more word about it... I will kill you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s whole body froze. Every word in his throat was forced back down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He clamped his mouth shut and even made his breathing as light as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That suffocating silence enveloped the coffin once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After what felt like an entire century, Irene finally seemed to have finished composing herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still with her back to Eli, she sat cross-legged, hands resting on her knees, her fingertips trembling ever so slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She closed her eyes, as if trying to sense something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few seconds later—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hum...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene’s eyes snapped open, and a gleam flashed through those star-filled pupils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her mana... had returned!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because time had passed, and that strange gas had finally dissipated?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She did not hesitate. At once, she calmed her mind, and the green glow at her fingertips brightened rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Powerful mana once again flowed through her body without obstruction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli also sharply sensed the immense presence radiating from Irene once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boulder in his heart finally crashed to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now that her mana had returned, Irene could crush him more easily than she could crush an ant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene paid him no attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She lifted a finger and sliced it through the empty air inside the coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crash—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heavy gold bricks at the bottom of the coffin, along with the jade bed, instantly turned into streams of light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They vanished into an almost imperceptible spatial ripple at her fingertip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye, the inside of the coffin was completely empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the cold obsidian walls remained, along with two people sunk in deathly silence... and one unconscious little furball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after doing all this did Irene slowly rise to her feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She still kept her back to Eli, her voice so cold it held not a trace of feeling. “Move.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the word had even finished falling—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heavy obsidian coffin lid suddenly sprang upward and slid aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The palace was in ruins, but that deadly pinkish-white gas had already vanished without a trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli felt as though he had been granted a pardon. He bent down and searched around in the corner of the coffin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He carefully picked up the still-unconscious little furball and tucked it back into his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he practically crawled out of the coffin on hands and knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold air rushed into his lungs, clearing his muddled mind a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He instinctively looked at the now-empty giant coffin, then at Irene’s cold back, and for a moment, his heart was a tangled mess of emotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene had already walked to the center of the palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Eli understand why Bardel, the so-called “Iron Hand,” had met such an end, stabbed to death by so many of his partners working together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been exploitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had used those women of different races as tools and test subjects in his pursuit of immortal power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps he really had poured some kind of feeling into those women.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the foundation of that feeling had been those carefully woven century-long illusions, one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every woman who joined with him had, within the illusion, shared with him a century as husband and wife, a love carved into the soul, unique and irreplaceable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when they discovered the truth, when they learned they had merely been one among countless experimental subjects—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The towering fury of being deceived, of being violated...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cough...” The thought shocked Eli so badly that he sucked in a cold breath and could not help coughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cautiously looked at Irene’s icy back ahead of him and summoned every ounce of courage he had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, now that... now that your mana has returned, then... then we should leave this place, shouldn’t we?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene did not slow her steps in the slightest. She did not even turn her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shut up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do not let me hear your voice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately sealed his lips, lowered his head, and followed behind her with Gulu in his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Together they passed through the deathly silent formation of clay figures and headed toward the spiral stone stairs they had used to come down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they reached the entrance to the vast underground space, Irene stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With her back to Eli and to the abyss-like tomb behind them, she slowly raised both hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vast mana gathered around her in a frenzy. Then Irene slammed her hands together with savage force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>RUMBLE—!!!!!!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The earth shook and the mountains trembled!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep beneath the Forgotten Rift, it was as though countless tons of explosives had detonated all at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deafening, terrifying roar thundered up from below their feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire underground complex of Bardel’s tomb, along with the thousands upon thousands of clay soldiers outside it,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>was being utterly... destroyed by a power so terrible it defied comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s face turned pale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he felt the annihilating shock surging up from the ground beneath his feet, he understood more clearly than ever before\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>just what kind of terrifying existence he had been toying with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The roar of collapse continued for several full minutes before it gradually subsided, leaving only dull echoes rolling through the abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene slowly lowered her hands, and the terrifying mana surging around her settled down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Move.” It was still that same cold word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli did not dare delay for even an instant and hurried after her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Irene brought Eli through spatial transport once more, and they appeared by that emerald-like lake deep within Nightsong Forest, the warm afternoon sunlight spilled across them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the peaceful, familiar lake before him, Eli felt as though an age had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had only gone through a few short days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet it had felt like a nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his arms, Gulu seemed to twitch uneasily under the sunlight, but still did not wake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene stood by the lake, silently gazing at the shimmering water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The breeze stirred her silver-white hair. Her back remained straight, cold, and distant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli held Gulu and hesitated for a long while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at Irene’s back, which seemed to keep the whole world at a distance, he drew a deep breath and spoke with solemn sincerity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness... I...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words had only just left his mouth when the still surface of the lake suddenly bulged upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Valerian’s enormous head, covered in dark-blue rhomboid scales, burst out of the water. His cold golden vertical pupils instantly locked onto the tiny human on the shore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A terrifying dragon’s might pressed down on Eli like something solid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I... will take responsibility.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene’s body seemed to pause, if only by the slightest fraction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she did not turn around. Her movement was fast as lightning as she snatched the still-unconscious Gulu from Eli’s arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She used so much force that it nearly made him stumble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, holding Gulu, she did not spare Eli another glance. Under Valerian’s icy gaze, she strode quickly toward the lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clear water parted as though guided by an invisible power, forming that familiar stairway of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene’s figure swiftly disappeared into the entrance to the glimmering passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Splash...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lake closed again, and the water returned to its original calm, as though nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Eli remained, standing alone by the shore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face was full of emotions too complicated for words—awkwardness, disappointment, guilt, and a faint trace of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the lake, flat and still as a mirror, for a long while before finally letting out a helpless sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he reached into his pack and took out the mysterious box that seemed neither metal nor jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This strange journey...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He weighed the box in his hand and let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh. “And this box is the only thing I got out of it...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, and his gaze drifted once more, of its own accord, toward the dark, unfathomable lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh... no...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the bottom of the lake, within the elven sanctuary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soft light filtered through the flowing water and spilled into this quiet space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Irene gently laid the still-sleeping Gulu in a small nest lined with soft moss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she stood alone before the white jade bed that had been put back in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The warm white jade gave off a faint, luminous glow beneath the gentle light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Irene’s gaze fell upon it, she recoiled as though she had been burned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hand rose unconsciously and lightly brushed over her still-flat lower abdomen, her fingertips trembling ever so slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eli’s figure during their journey surfaced in her mind without her willing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And crashing in even more vividly was that century-long illusion that had felt utterly real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with... those two tiny, living lives...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That story seemed to have been branded into the depths of her soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An indescribable ache and warmth instantly flooded the heart that had been cold for centuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the very next moment, that trace of softness vanished like a candle snuffed out by an icy wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What replaced it was a colder, deeper chill and... revulsion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She abruptly withdrew her hand, as though the white jade bed had scalded her, and turned away at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elven princess lifted her noble head high. In those star-filled eyes, the frozen distance and pride of old gathered once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And to that heart-lake within her, where ripples had begun to spread, she declared with absolute finality:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After all... he is only a human.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1808,"2026-06-06T13:50:45.844Z",1,"novelbin.me","0f96600d5d4d6880ed294f5f94029af044881ce987a1c541881410699b9e474c","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-84","exiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-chapter-82",112,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fexiled-from-the-start-and-dominating-the-wastela-cover.jpg"]