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441 The Red Herring

Index

Book

The next day.

A stout man with a bald head and a long mustache that he was repeatedly twirling with his hand was walking along the large pathway that led to the Central Tower.

Around 200 meters away from him, a blonde haired kid could be seen following him while trying not to attract attention to himself.

This man was an Exalted Warrior who was just one step away from becoming a Champion, and as such, he was already in possession of a little of the advanced 'sense' that only a Champion had.

Hence, he glanced back, ready to catch whoever had been tailing him for the past one hour.

However, to his surprise, the spot where he had locked on to his follower was empty, and even though he looked around, there was no one to spot.

Grumbling, the man entered the Central Tower to get back to his training.

Meanwhile, Daneel was hiding around 50 meters away from that spot, thanking the heavens that he was in possession of the Basilisk's Breath that had enabled him to make this escape.

This was the target he had chosen: Alfonso the Wrangler.

Indeed, the man was known by his nickname even though the two didn't make a name which sounded very well, as this was the thing he was most famous for.

He was in charge of making the payments to the normal humans who lived on the borders of the sect who were responsible for mundane work, and he was notorious for not just shaving off a little of the money, but also withholding it to gain unwilling favors.

Apparently, he was also the father of one of those who had accompanied Percy's elder brother in those dastardly acts in the Black Raven Kingdom.

Like father, like son.

Daneel frankly hated such scum, and after seeing the characteristics of this man, he only looked forward even more to wiping away those 'weeds' as soon as possible.

Regardless, he was going to handle this man first.

His was a very high post that had been previously held by an Amateur Warrior many years ago, due to that Warrior somehow accomplishing the feat of subjugating the actual one in the post and even having him fight his battles for him.

If something happened once, then there was much less chance that it would draw a lot of attention if it happened again.

After seeing Alfonso enter the Central Tower, Daneel started to walk towards his second stop: the back of the mountain.

When he arrived, he was quite surprised to see that it was not at all like what he had expected.

In Daneel's mind, he had been thinking that the Border Village, as it was called, might be a destitute den of filth, like the camps which used to accompany armies in the history of Earth.

The Sect of Hedon was an all-male sect, and as such, there was an official brothel set up here to enable those who had distractions to eliminate them to focus on their training.

This aspect of this world was something that Daneel had only heard about before, but not seen.

In his Kingdom, and all the others around the continent, brothels were officially recognized by the governments and there were set rules which protected the interests of those who engaged in this business.

For example, there was a fast track court for those who resorted to force or excessive violence during said acts.

Also, anyone who dared to push women into this trade was given the death sentence without fail.

Thus, Daneel had heard that low-grade brothels were inhabited by those who had no other job to choose, whereas high-grade ones earned enough money to put most medium enterprises to shame. Hence, those who were employed in high-grade ones were even respected in society to some extent.

Back in Lanthanor, apparently, the previous king had loved to go to the best brothel in the city to choose his concubines.

Of course, since becoming King, Daneel had been too busy running around to save the continent to pay attention to such things.

Getting back to the matter at hand, Daneel had expected the Border Village to have mud roads, depressing thatched houses, and dreary inhabitants.

However, when he reached it, he found neat, tiled roads, professionally-constructed stone houses, and happy children running around and playing.

This was the regular section of the village, so thinking that he might find what he had been expecting in the section that housed the brothel, Daneel walked there and saw that he was wrong.

There were no scantily clad women or raunchy boards, either. Instead, there was a plush entrance through which Daneel could see a woman sitting in what looked like a reception desk.

Well, this was definitely a pretty posh setup.

In the underground information room, Daneel had seen that Alfonso loved harassing women in this institution in particular.

The sect had a population of around 2000 members, and the border village was inhabited by at least 3000 people.

Hence, as it was a pretty big village, there were multiple establishments like these.

After double checking the address, Daneel walked to the reception.

With a warm smile, the woman who was wearing a blue chiffon gown greeted him and said, "Welcome to the Red Herring! What are you here for today?"

"I'm-I'm looking for Jessica.", stuttered Daneel, surprising even himself.

Oh, yes.

He was from Earth, where there was a certain stigma about going to places like these, that wasn't helped along by the fact that they were illegal in most countries.

It seemed that that memory had surfaced, along with a nonsensical thought that Eloise and Sister Xuan might tear him apart together if they found him here.

"First time, dear? Did you recently join the sect, or did you only now manage to scrape together enough money?"

Hearing the question which had multiple meanings, Daneel stuttered a reply, deciding to keep up this 'act' as it had already started.

"I just became a Warrior the-the other day and managed to get some mo-money."

"I knew it! As they say back in the sect, distractions must be fulfilled, not ignored. It seems that Jessica is in. 20 Ker Gems, please."

If Daneel hadn't already heard about this price before, he would definitely have been sputtering in rage by now.

Apparently, this high price was to dissuade sect members from indulging too much in things like these, and it scaled according to the level of a sect member.

Wondering who the heck had thought up such a weird system, Daneel handed over the pile of gems with a breaking heart.

He had worked all day yesterday after getting the information and deciding on this plan to obtain these Ker Gems, and they were gone, just like that.

Well, it was necessary.

In Daneel's plan, the woman he was going to meet was instrumental, and although he could have chosen to covertly find her house and try to talk her there, he did not want to risk being seen and getting suspicion thrown on him after everything was done.

Instead, just meeting like this was the best method.

The woman handed over a key that had the letters 54 written on it, so Daneel went up the stairs and reached the room with the same letters before knocking.

"Come in."

As a sweet voice replied from inside, Daneel entered and closed the door behind him, using the lock to do so.

This lock also activated a formation around the room, preventing all sound inside from being heard outside.

Daneel didn't know what to feel about this perfectly thought out system.

Jessica was a pretty woman with brown hair. With a few freckles near her nose, she was actually pretty attractive, and she also seemed to be well-endowed which allowed her to be a popular draw in this institution.

She was wearing silk robes that she prepared to take off when she saw Daneel locking the door, but she stopped with a puzzled expression on her face when she saw the blond-haired kid raise his hands and shout, "STOP!"

She had seen all kinds of men, but this must be a first-seeing someone who wanted her to stop, instead of going faster.

"Shy? I heard this is your first time. Don't worry, I'll be-"

"NO!"

Shouting again, Daneel took a few deep breaths.

Things were already going out of control.

Calming down, he returned to a calmer state, putting aside the slight panic before when the woman had almost exposed her entire body.

"I came here to talk about Alfonso."

When Jessica heard this, a deep frown appeared on her face and she prepared to pick up a communication trinket beside her, which must be how she had heard that it was his 'first time'.

"Hear me out. I want him to get his due, but I need your help."

This made Jessica hesitate, but it was only for a moment.

Why should she believe this kid? After all, he might just be someone here to take advantage of her by telling her that he would fulfill her dream.

Seeing this, Daneel sighed and said, "Look, I'm telling the truth. I'm not even being selfless. I found a way to make him give up his post to me, before having his life destroyed. I know the way he threatens to withhold your son's wages to have his way with you, and others around the village. I know what he does to you women, and why you don't dare expose him. I can help you all, but I need your help. Just come to this spot at midnight with the others. That's all I need. Bye."

Saying so and putting a communication trinket on the desk beside him, Daneel turned around and walked out, leaving a gawking Jessica.

To Daneel's surprise, he found the woman from downstairs waiting at the edge of the corridor near the stairs.

Looking at him come out with a slightly flustered expression on his face, she exclaimed, "That was even faster than I imagined! So it really is your first time!"

Index442 Midnight, at the Hemeris Tree

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As Daneel heard her words, the blush that had been creeping into his face ever since that incident inside the room finally broke through, making his face go red as he looked away.

Although this woman looked gentle, she let out a roar of laughter which startled even those inside the first two rooms beside her, making them come out and ask what was going on.

"Travis, here…"

Crap! She even knew his name!

Having no interest whatsoever in being laughed at by even more women if he tried to explain, Daneel realized that this was actually good for his plan and made a quick escape.

Of course, as soon as he made his way out, more laughter erupted behind him, and this time, even his ears turned pink.

He could just imagine the next headline on the Network of Angaria.

"Honorable King of Angaria-out in 30 seconds!"

Of course, as he owned the network, he would never let such news circulate, but that didn't stop him from imagining it and berating himself more.

His reaction had been pretty…pathetic, so Daneel resolved to at least not act so weird the next time he was faced with such a situation, even if he did feel very embarrassed.

Repeating to himself again and again that he would only focus on his training for now, he made his way back to the sect and picked up more odd jobs to earn a few Ker Gems while waiting for night to fall.

At sharp midnight, Daneel reached a large tree which was surrounded by many smaller ones, as if it was monopolizing the nutrition that was supposed to go them all.

This was apparently a special tree that was almost extinct on Angaria. It really was capable of snatching nutrients consciously from trees surrounding it.

Of course, there existed many species, like weeds, which did this anyway. However, the peculiarity of this tree was the reason why the word 'consciously' was used when describing it.

The Hemeris tree, which was named after the first scholar to have discovered its properties, only took enough nutrients to ensure that it would grow the most, but it would always limit itself to make sure that the plants and trees around it wouldn't die. They might not grow as well, but unlike weeds, it did not absorb so much as to kill them.

Many said that this was how one on a path to power was supposed to be: they should strive to grow strongest, but they should also not endanger others' lives for that purpose.

There were only 5 such trees in the Sect of Hedon remaining, and Daneel had set the meeting at this one, which was distinguished by it's proximity to a small stream that was one of the many that were present in the expansive forests that were a part of the Sect.

Seeing that there was no one here, he sighed with disappointment.

Alfonso was responsible for forcefully taking advantage of over 110 women, as he delighted in switching around and having favorites.

If Jessica had heeded his communication and alerted the others, a crowd could have formed here by now.

So, it was clear that she hadn't done so.

Still, Daneel asked the system to check if there was anyone monitoring him in the darkness, and to his surprise, he found that there were actually 4 pairs of eyes on him.

4 people were watching him and he hadn't felt anything?! After becoming a Warrior, his senses had grown sharper, so Daneel actually felt a threat now that there seemed to be someone who seemed to be so adept at hiding themselves. Chances were that they all might be stronger than him.

However, a few seconds, Daneel gaped as a kid ran towards him.

He was around 2 feet tall, and he had plump cheeks, although the rest of his body was lean.

Where did this kid come from?

Seeing the kid raise his hand before opening and closing his fingers, Daneel understood it as a gesture for him to bend.

When he did so, he heard a cute, innocent voice utter words which chilled his spine.

"Harm my mother, and I'll definitely kill you."

As Daneel froze and wondered whether he had heard right, he heard Jessica's voice saying, "Jake, why did you go there? I only told you to look and tell us if he came alone! Get back here!"

With these words, 3 other little figures stepped out of bushes and off of branches in a 100-meter radius around him.

These…were the threats that Daneel had thought must be above Warrior level?!

They had been so still that Daneel hadn't even been able to sense them with his Warrior level senses, which made him feel shocked that they seemed like assassins who had trained in the Hidden Kill Sect.

With a sweet smile that made the hairs on Daneel's arm stand up straight, the kid ran to his mother who was walking forward from quite some distance away.

Along with her, a host of women were making their way forward.

They had hidden themselves in the darkness, which was why Daneel hadn't been able to see them.

He hadn't expected them to be this cautious, otherwise, he wouldn't have felt disheartened before when he had seen no one here.

But when he thought about it, it did make sense.

These women were being prosecuted by one person already, so it must be that they didn't want to be blackmailed by another, who might bring a group to force them to do something.

The worst case was that they might even be called here to be killed so that they would be made to shut up, as Daneel had heard dark stories about incidents like those where the perpetrator even managed to escape charges if they had connections in the top brass.

All systems looked ideal on the surface, but incidents like these were common, as there was almost no system that could run perfectly.

Sighing, Daneel raised his arms and said, "I promise I have no ill intentions. I just want to help."

"Good. If anything happens to us, there are people waiting who will report everything to the Sect. Kids, get out of here."

With an obedient nod, the 4 kids left silently in the night, not even making a single sound.

Daneel couldn't help but stare at them, and when Jessica noticed that he was doing so, she said, "These kids are orphans whose parents died due to…you know what, I can't tell you that. Either way, the story goes that they lived for 1 month in the forest, while being chased by those who killed their parents in front of them. During that, they learned to stay silent, and many other things that they refuse to talk about. The culprit was killed, and we adopted these kids. Now, tell us why you want to help us, first. If that isn't genuine, then we have no intention to hear what you have planned."

Daneel felt like asking and finding out more, but he resisted the urge.

"I have a plan to take over a high post in the Central Tower so that I can train faster with more resources. I could have chosen anyone else, but I chose Alfonso, as my plan works best against him. Of course, the fact that he deserves this was also a factor in my decision. I come for a normal family, and I really do think that he is scum for doing everything he did to all of you. If you choose to believe me and follow my plan, you will be rid of him, and no harm will come to you. I promise this."

As Daneel gave his speech, he looked out at all the women who had gathered.

They were all different, with varying heights, skin tones, body structures, and hairstyles, but one thing was common: they were all gorgeous.

Back on Earth, they could easily have walked the runway as models.

After his speech, they all stared at him in silence, before Jessica slowly raised her hand and said.

"I believe him. I want to give it a try."

A woman beside her, who had ebony skin and frizzy hair, asked, "The speech did sound sincere, but what makes you so sure, Jessica?"

Her answer made Daneel's ears burn again.

"Oh, nothing. It was just his face when I almost took off my clothes. He's definitely never been with a woman before, and he could definitely have slept with me before giving this offer. But unlike all those horny boys from the sect, he actually shouted 'NO!'. I choose to believe someone who is that innocent and has that sort of mental fortitude. Besides, his speech sold me! All of you know it's genuine!"

Daneel had spoken with passion, as he really did want to give justice to these poor women.

However, he could never have expected that that 'incident' would be brought up.

On hearing these words, the other women actually stared at Daneel, before breaking out into chuckles that were accompanied by gleaming eyes from some of them.

Wait…why were they looking at him like that?

Without saying anything, woman after woman raised their hands.

After waiting a few seconds and seeing that all of them had done so, Jessica smiled and said, "Ok, we're in. What do you need us to do?"

Great!

Feeling happy that his plan was taking the best route, Daneel said, "Your role is simple. I will be visiting many of you over the next week, but only to stay for a little while and leave. After that, when Alfonso returns to any of you, you must tell him about a certain thing that I boasted about. I came across a large Ker Gem mine outside the sect, and I'm secretly extracting Gems bit by bit."

"But isn't withholding information about locations for Ker Gem mines a crime that can land one in prison?"

"Exactly. Just leave the rest to me. Alfonso will soon be rotting in prison."

As the women started whispering amongst themselves, Daneel smiled slyly.

He was going to use the classic method of scamming people by making them give up what they have, with the allure of giving them something many times greater. In other words, he was going to be Alfonso's "Prince from Nigeria".

Index443 Will you take it, Sir?

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4 days after the midnight meeting.

Alfonso was lounging on a soft bed with one of the women from the Red Herring, who had a reluctant smile on her face, as he was known to be capable of using magic to cause pain if the women didn't appear 'happy'.

If Daneel were here, he would have recognized this woman as the ebony-skinned one that had stood beside Jessica and asked her that question.

With one hand over the woman's shoulder and idly groping her assets, Alfonso closed his eyes and thought about the vicissitudes of life.

Although he had been never that talented, he had always been capable of doing everything that was necessary to move forward. This differentiated him from his peers, allowing him to obtain more resources in order to gain power faster while leaving them behind.

Never one to not resort to underhanded tricks in situations where they would work, he had used a perfect plan to get this position that he was proud of to this day.

By accumulating piles and piles of money and using it to ask a Champion whom he had picked due to their ruthless nature, he made sure that his opponent got injured because he had 'disrespected' that Champion.

Although fights between sect members were banned unless it was in the official dueling ring which was also used for challenges for posts in the Central Tower, such matters where a valuable Champion and a mere Warrior were involved were usually ignored.

Hence, when he fought his opponent, the man could only output half his strength and had been beat.

After that, Alfonso had madly trained in order to become strong enough to beat that man a second time when he had come back for revenge, by using his rage against him and continuously taunting him using personal matters.

In other words, Alfonso wasn't someone who would only rely on others. Instead, he prided his own power over all else, but wasn't against using any and all means necessary to get what he wanted.

Right now, he was just one step away from being a peak Warrior, which would allow him to claim the special resources meant for nurturing those who might become Champions.

He had been stuck at the Warrior-8 level for far too long, and the problem was his talent.

Talent allowed one to get more done with fewer resources, and because he didn't have that luxury, he had always had to scrounge for each and every bit of money in order to push himself forward.

There were only two things he loved: power, and women.

In fact, no, he only loved the latter: the former was just a means to grow strong enough to protect himself, while also obtaining a longer lifespan.

He knew that the woman he was groping was uncomfortable, but he liked that.

Hence, he began to do so harder, but to his surprise, the woman let out a chuckle before frowning deeply in pain.

Why had she chuckled?

"Margeret dearie, why so happy, all of a sudden? Did Sammy get a raise or something?"

Sammy was her brother, whose fee Alfonso was withholding in order to have his way with her.

"N-no."

Wait…she was hiding something.

Alfonso could tell. He had once been in the torture wing of the Sect, and he had seen the way people spoke when they didn't want to reveal something they were holding deep in their heart.

"Tell me what you chuckled about, or I'll make sure Sammy also gets fined a few Ker Gems, which you don't have."

This usually made the women beg, but he looked on with startled eyes as Margaret just felt afraid for a second or so before appearing to remember something.

"Pl-please don't."

No. She was only begging as that was what she was supposed to do. There was no real fear in her voice.

Over the years, Alfonso had gotten addicted to the cries of mercy and the desperate begging from people whose fate he held in their hands. Hence, when he saw that it was missing, it infuriated him to no end.

Casting a spell that used both metal and fire elementary particles, Alfonso conjured a red-hot metal rod before pressing it onto Margaret's hand mercilessly.

As she screamed in pain, he immediately made the rod vanish and cast a healing spell, while Margaret watched with tears as her skin slowly began to heal itself.

If marks were left, it was always possible that someone might be able to testify against him to the Sect.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, and as Margaret still kept her mouth shut, Alfonso repeated this for 4 more times on different places before she finally shouted, "PLEASE, ENOUGH! I'LL TALK!"

"That's more like it. Why did we need to go through all this? I really do like you, Margaret."

As Margaret shrunk into the bed like a defenseless new-born turtle, Alfonso chuckled and resumed his groping while using his other hand to twirl his mustache.

With a stutter, Margaret said, "Th-there was this kid who came in yesterday to me. He visited a lot of women in the past 4 days. He's just an Amateur Warrior! We couldn't figure out how he had so many Ker Gems! We finally managed to worm the information out of him after a lot of coaxing. He found a large Ker Gem mine outside the sect, bigger than any discovered in recent years. He knows it's a crime to conceal the information, b-but he said that they wouldn't notice a few missing Ker Gems, so he plans to mine a few hundred before reporting to the Sect. 4 days ago was his first time with the new-found money…and he will be a regular customer, and he pays a lot, that too, directly to us. Th-that's why I…Please don't do anything to him!"

By the time Margaret was done, Alfonso was almost foaming at his mouth with excitement.

Could he…really be this lucky? To have found out about something like this before anyone else?

No. He had to stay calm and verify it with the other women. What if she was just saying things to escape?

Without a word, Alfonso took the key and unlocked the room.

However, just as he was about to step out, he calmed himself due to a thought.

If he went around to all the women now, it might arouse suspicion. He had to do it slowly.

So, walking back in, he said in a threatening tone, "Speak with no one else about this. If you do, I'll know," before leaving while whistling a tune, as if everything was normal, and as though he wasn't planning to kill all these women after he confirmed everything.

Margaret heard these words with an expression of fear on her face, while her frizzy hair was in disarray.

However, as soon as his footsteps faded away from her earshot, a proud smile came on her face as she relaxed and lounged back on the bed, stretching her body while putting on her clothes.

She was just slipping on her dress when Jessica appeared at the door, asking, "Is it done?"

Gesturing at Jessica to close the door, Margaret waited until she was done to laugh out loud before saying, "Of course! The pig bought it. He only sees us as nitwits who are only good for one thing. I bet he can't even imagine that we are all very good actors. We need to act when we get nice boys like Travis in here, after all."

As Margaret said the last sentence with a chuckle, Jessica smiled and replied, "Good. And I'm glad you and the others didn't go through with your plans. I knew what you were thinking the minute I saw that gleam."

This made Margaret frown slightly before saying, "We just wanted to tease him! You know, see if he cracks when he gets a real, hard look at what he's missing? A slip here, a tear there…it would have been so much fun! You're such a spoilsport."

"No. He's sure about what he wants. Maybe it would have been fun for us, but it definitely would not have been for him. Instead, it might even have driven him away. All right, I'll go tell the others to prepare themselves. Take care."

Saying so, Jessica was about to leave, but she turned around when she heard Margaret ask a question in a tone unlike the confident one before.

"Hey…do you think he'll really do it?"

Seeing her shoulders shake, Jessica could tell that she was probably crying.

That confident side was just a veneer that all of them put up in different ways, just to mask their suffering to the outside world.

"I sure hope so," she replied, before praying to the heavens and closing the door.

….

3 days later.

As a blonde-haired kid walked into a remote clearing inside the Sect of Hedon where an anti-eavesdropping formation was set up, he frowned and saw the bald man in front of him and said, "I'm here, Mr. Alfonso. Why did you say you wanted to meet me?"

"Travis, Travis, Travis. You've been a really naughty boy. You-"

"Is this about the Ker Gem mine?"

What the heck? Aren't you supposed to deny all knowledge of it?!

Having his 'you have no way out, reveal the truth' speech ruined, Alfonso sputtered for a bit before regaining his calm.

"Yes, I wanted to-"

"Oh, I was going to report it to the sect anyway. I guess you can do so, sir-"

"NO!"

As Alfonso shouted this while imagining his riches going away, he realized how implausible this situation was.

Why wasn't this kid clinging on to such a massive amount of treasure?

He got the answer in the next second, and when he heard the kid's response, it was accompanied by the strange feeling that nothing was going as he had expected.

"I'm not confident at all in keeping it a secret, I'm too afraid. It's also a pity to tell it to the sect. Wait…here's an idea! Will you take it, sir? There must be, like, 200,000 Ker Gems in there, at least. In return, can I have your post in the Central Tower? I can't do it for free, right."

Index444 Scamming Alfonso 1

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200,000 Ker Gems?!

After getting rid of that strange feeling, these were the words that got stuck in Alfonso's mind.

For a second, he became distracted as he imagined what he would do if he had such a fortune.

Getting to the Champion level would no longer be a pipedream!

The older one was, the harder it would get to absorb Energy, both for the body and the mageroot. So, he had always been hoping that he would come across some opportunity to obtain enough in one strike so that he could just go into secluded meditation to reach the peak.

This was his chance!

As Alfonso was busy daydreaming, he didn't notice the flash in the blonde-haired kid's eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a prickling at the back of his head, and a vague feeling that something was trying to…invade his mind.

This was something that he had never felt before, and with a start, he quickly scanned all around him, wondering whether someone was trying to eavesdrop.

The feeling had vanished, but unlike Sister Xuan who discarded it thinking that it was a figment of her imagination, Alfonso clung to it and checked the formation he had set up for blocking outsiders from listening in.

The formation was controlled by him, and it was said that when someone with a higher skill in formations tried to take control of one that was already being controlled, the one who was controlling the formation would feel as if their mind was being invaded.

The core of his formation had been covertly placed in a tree to the side, so as he walked towards it with a deep frown of suspicion on his face, he didn't notice that for a split second, the blonde-haired kid had narrowed his eyes.

However, after that, an expression of happiness replaced it, but again, this was very brief.

Right before Alfonso reached the core, he once again felt that prickling, and although it wasn't exactly the same as before, it was similar enough for him to think that he had been right.

Moreover, as he saw the core of the formation which was in the form of a triangular metal trinket that had various patterns embedded on it, he noticed that a small crack had appeared on one side of it.

Yes! Someone was trying to eavesdrop!

Immediately, he said, "I like your proposition. We can talk on it tonight, and we can also go out to verify whether what you are saying is true. For now, it seems that someone is trying to listen in. I'm leaving. Meet me at midnight in the glave 200 meters south of the 3rd northern exit."

Saying so, Alfonso didn't give a chance for Daneel to reply. Picking up the core, he deactivated it and left swiftly, while glancing around and trying to spot the 'enemy'.

After waiting for a moment and checking with the system that no one was watching him, Daneel smiled wide.

He was very happy with the way this meeting had gone.

The prickling, of course, had been the natural defense of one's mind against invasion by the system, which wanted to hijack its inputs and show it a false image, just like with Sister Xuan and that vision. This was a very advanced spell, and even though the system was at the peak of the Champion level, only using it on a Human would allow it to proceed without giving any indication to the target.

Also, Daneel had to make sure that the target was distracted when the spell was cast, as someone who was completely in control of the faculties of their mind would be able to notice the invasion faster and try to resist.

If they were distracted, it would be over before they realized it.

Daneel had worried a bit when he saw Alfonso get suspicion on his face, but when he saw him walking towards the core of the formation, Daneel had quickly asked the system whether there was any correlation between anti-eavesdropping formations and spells like these, where the objective was to send a simulation to one's mind.

After finding out that an attack on the formation would have the same effect, he had immediately made one, which resolved the situation and sealed Alfonso's fate.

However, Daneel realized that he had landed himself in a small dilemma.

Alfonso wanted to go today, itself, to check out the mine. Initially, Daneel had planned to delay the man until the time when he could leave the sect so that he could set it all up before they went.

Even now, he didn't panic too much, as if worst came to worst, he could simply knock Alfonso out.

With his inheritances, he would definitely be able to take on this Exalted Warrior. A prolonged fight might be a bit difficult, but Daneel was confident of winning a short engagement.

The limitation of the "Mind Control" spell, which had been ambitiously named by Daneel after being derived from the ability of the system to simulate scenarios for him, was that a single 'invasion' could only result in one simulation.

For example, he had 'invaded' Sister Xuan's mind, and played that vision for her to see. If he wanted to do so again, he would once again have to distract her and let her feel that sense of being invaded again, and the chances were also high that she would definitely notice something amiss, as she would be familiar with it from before.

Still, if there was no other way, Daneel didn't mind using his 'invasion' before to make it appear to Alfonso that he had been knocked out by someone or something else while he left to make the fake Ker Gem mine.

After that, he could wait for the man to use a formation again so that he could 'invade' his mind again without arousing suspicion.

Only, Daneel preferred if his plan didn't have variables. If Alfonso somehow had the means to escape his clutches, then he would be placed in a very dire situation.

Hence, Daneel fell into deep thought, wondering what to do.

Getting no solution after a few minutes, he first made his way to the Border Village to thank Jessica and tell her that it had worked.

When he reached the Red Herring, he saw with relief that there was someone other than that woman who had laughed at him before. Still, she giggled when she saw him, which meant that he had already become famous for his 'endurance'.

Sighing and feeling happy that he was in a disguise, Daneel reached Jessica's room and knocked before entering.

Seeing that it was him through the peephole, Jessica immediately opened and closed the door behind him before asking in an excited voice, "Did it work?!"

When Daneel nodded, an expression of relief came on her face.

"The first part worked, and the second should go without a hitch."

Even though this was happy news, Daneel was still frowning slightly.

Noticing this, Jessica asked with a frown, "What's the matter? I thought it went well?"

"Oh, I was thinking about a small problem that I have. I need to go out of the sect today, but my monthly leave is done."

"That's it? Why didn't you ask me before? We have a special way in and out which doesn't require anyone to be allowed to leave. Just leave it to me."

As Daneel heard this, he looked at her and beamed.

He had been hoping that she might have a way because of how resourceful she seemed, so seeing that he was right, he felt really glad that there were no more problems.

Now, all that was left was to put Alfonso behind bars due to his greed which made him dumb enough for sending all the money he had to the 'Nigerian Prince' with the belief that he would get much more in return.

As Jessica saw him smile, she felt glad after seeing that everything was going smoothly.

"You're very cute, you know," she said, making Daneel's smile freeze.

This made her chuckle softly before saying, "Don't get me wrong. I just wanted to tell you that we all really appreciate what you're doing for us. We could say lofty things like 'We are willing to follow you anywhere', but we know we are just powerless humans who can't be of much help to you."

Daneel immediately started to shake his head, but she continued.

"You don't need to refute this. We will always be in your debt. You can never know all the horrible things that pig put us through. By the way, I really think it's commendable that you weren't tempted to go about this a different way. I can tell that that part of life is not on your mind right now. Still, I've heard of many who went mad with grief later on because of decisions like these. Rumors say that something like that happened to the Mad Doctor, too, but I don't know if they have any truth to them. I just wanted to say that if you do find someone you like, don't hesitate to do everything you can to make them a part of your life. You'll know that that someone is special, don't worry- I've heard that Warriors and Champions have a special sense in this matter. Anyway, that was just my advice. Now, get out of her if you don't want it to become known that you've suddenly gained a lot of endurance. Here are the instructions for the secret exit."

As Daneel heard the last part, he did feel embarrassed a bit, but he stored the rest in his heart. She definitely meant well, and he even felt that there was quite some truth to what she was saying.

Still, it was true that he shouldn't arouse suspicion. So, getting up and taking the trinket, he just said "Thank you. I'll be back after it's completely done," before walking out, only to find a gaggle of women at the end of the corridor all staring the door to Jessica's room.

As soon as he walked out, some cheered and others got sad expressions on their faces.

Daneel wondered why that was, and he got the answer a few seconds later, when he saw money being passed around.

They were all betting on how much time he would last inside!

Sighing and feeling pity for Travis, Daneel followed the instructions to leave the sect, so he could set the stage for Alfonso.

Index445 Scamming Alfonso 2

Index

Book

Midnight. Near the glade indicated by Alfonso.

Alfonso was already waiting there, having reached 20 minutes before to stake the location out so that he could make sure that whoever had been eavesdropping before, hadn't managed to follow him here too.

He had thought long and hard about who the culprit could be, and in the end, he could only conclude that it was someone who was interested in a cloaked conversation that was going on not too far away from a central walkway.

At around 11:55 AM, the blonde haired kid that he had been waiting for finally arrived, with a smile on his face.

Seeing that smile, Alfonso really wanted to punch him, as it reeked of innocence and naïveté.

Why was it that someone like this had come across such a valuable treasure? Why had it not been him?

Of course, arguments like these were irrelevant, but he still engaged in them so that he could calm himself and not blow this deal.

"So. You want me to hand over my senior post, which earns me 50 Ker gems per day, and that has always been held by an Exalted Warrior, to an Amateur one like you?"

In response, Travis nodded and folded his arms behind his back before saying, "You can't say it's not worth it, Sir. Doing something like this was on my mind before itself, but I just didn't find someone that I could trust. You found out about it anyway, so I just chose you, and when I asked around, I found out that you are someone who keeps your word. You must have asked about me, too, right? I've already given one very useful information to the sect, and I wouldn't mind giving them another, but I really do feel that it's a pity. I should focus on my path to power too, after all."

Hearing this, Alfonso nodded.

He had indeed investigated this kid called Travis, and had found out that he had a special status directly granted by the sect leader because of his discovery of an inheritance site. Although it could be said that he had not done so willingly, it was obvious that by doing that business with taking so many sect members to the site, he had already anticipated that this would be the result, and had been prepared to give it up to the sect.

Many times, Alfonso had seen that luck always favored those who didn't deserve it, and that too, in amounts which would make others cry.

This kid had already found out an inheritance site, so it wasn't even that implausible that he had also found such valuable treasure.

Besides, his greed seemed to be getting the better of him, and there even seemed to be something whispering in his mind that he should take this chance, as another like it might not come along in his lifetime.

For a second, he wondered why he was having such strong feelings about this deal without being objective, but right at that moment, those suggestive thoughts vanished, making him discard that line of thinking.

"I need to see it first, of course. You might just be lying."

"I'm not that dumb, Sir. If I show it to you, you could kill me afterward. I want you to swear an oath to me right now, that if you do find that the mine is real, you will promise me three things:

1. You will give me your post in the Central Tower, and also never challenge me again for it, while helping me to keep it.

2. You will not harm me in any way, directly or indirectly, regardless of what you find.

3. You will never speak anything about me to anyone, or give any indication directly or indirectly that you know me."

As Alfonso saw Travis say these three things with great concentration, he chuckled.

Clearly, this kid had put a lot of thought into this.

Maybe he wasn't that naive after all.

This wasn't really a bad thing, as if this was all fake, the kid would definitely not take this many precautions.

Taking a moment, he pondered over the three conditions.

Oaths could be made without oath stones, but the limitation was that the oath would be tied to the person, making it so that if the person died, the oath would vanish. If there was an oath stone, the oath would be passed on to the next inheritor.

Also, facilities like communicating with the other person through the oath stone were absent.

Clearly, the kid had thought about the possibility of him hiring somebody else to bring harm to him so that he could rid himself of the oath, which was why the second clause said: "directly or indirectly."

In fact, all Alfonso cared about right now was getting to the peak of the Warrior realm, obtaining the special support of the sect, and shooting forward to become a Champion so that he could triple his life span yet again.

Compared to that, these three things felt trivial.

Only the third clause seemed a little bit strange, but Alfonso just assumed that it was there because the kid was scared that he might use other means to bring harm to him.

Yes. This was a good deal, definitely.

The suggestive thoughts returned, but in his daydreaming of becoming a Champion and having hundreds of years to enjoy all the women he wished, he didn't notice it this time.

Although he would be giving up what he had – the post in the central tower which earned him 1500 Ker gems a month, he would be getting so much more.

As he finally nodded in reply, he saw an expression of relief come on Travis's face.

"Of course, you also have to swear that you will never disclose any information about the mine to anybody else, and that no one else but you knows about its whereabouts right now."

This was just basic common sense. He couldn't risk this kid getting greedy later, and telling others for more profit.

Also, he had to make sure that he would have the mine to himself, instead of having to share with anyone that this kid might have blabbed the information to.

As for all the women on the Border Village, Alfonso wasn't really worried about them right now, as no one else could make them talk like he had done, and they wouldn't be dumb enough to go against his words.

Still, he began planning a way to make them all… Disappear.

"Of course. Let us begin."

…

20 minutes later.

After swearing the oaths, both of them made their way out of the sect using a secret exit that only Alfonso, and a few other senior sect members knew of.

Clearly, anyone who had spent a long time in the sect would find ways to go around the rules imposed, in cases where the rules weren't too strict and were meant mainly to make sect members focus on training more.

After teleporting four times, the two of them reached an unmarked spot in a forest east of the Sect of Hedon.

This area was completely unremarkable, with even the trees not being lusher than those around them, which was usually a dead giveaway for the location of a Ker Gem mine, especially of this size.

As Alfonso saw this, he started doubting whether he was being led into some trap.

He had already prepared himself for that possibility – checking his pocket, he made sure that the defensive Champion level trinket, the single most expensive item he owned, was ready to be deployed to protect him.

At least there was one good news: if there really was a mine here, it would be impossible for anyone to find it, as this was just one random spot in an area of hundreds of kilometers that was filled by forests.

They had teleported in the air, so after landing on the ground, Travis first looked around carefully to make sure that no one had followed them.

After that, he went to a nearby bush which looked completely normal and plucked it after deactivating a formation.

Below that bush, hidden expertly, was a small hole through which only one person could fit.

"After you," said Alfonso, not intending to walk into a trap if there was one.

However, the next second, his eyes became as wide as saucers when he saw a red mist float out of the hole.

There were two main indications of a large Ker Gem mine – one was obviously the large amounts of red gems that would be found inside, and another was the red mist, which meant that this was an area which naturally condensed Energy. This was why Natural Energized Training Chambers also condensed this red mist while absorbing Energy from their surroundings.

As his breathing hastened, he watched as Travis nodded and entered the hole, after which Alfonso followed, barely able to contain his excitement.

The hole had no ladder, but as mages, they could simply fly through it.

After descending around 800 m into the ground, the hole finally ended, widening into a large, block-shaped cave that had an area of at least 1 km².

Sensing no threats, Alfonso conjured a globe of light, and as he saw the red glimmers all around him, he staggered back and had to take support from the wall behind him.

Yes! Ker gems! Thousands and thousands of them!

There was also the red mist, which was faint, meaning that this mine had formed long ago.

It all made sense now. The vegetation above must have been lusher many, many years ago, but because of some reason, no one must have noticed it. After that, the extra Energy had been sapped away by the mine, so the plants above were normal. Although it meant that there would be no additional gems being added to the mine, the ones that were already present would easily be enough to tide him over for quite a long time.

There was only one question – how did this kid find it in the first place?

Without asking, Travis answered.

"On a routine examination of the continent, I came across a woodcutter who spoke about a single plant he had seen during his journey through this forest which looked like it was blessed by the heavens. Because the mine is so deep underground, the additional Energy only affected one plant above, and when I dug and found this mine, I immediately killed that woodcutter and burned his body. No one else knows. Is our deal done?"

As he heard this and realized that it did make sense, Alfonso only nodded, too busy admiring the beautiful prisms around him.

Of course, this was why he didn't notice the gleam in Travis's eyes.

…

One hour later.

[Preprogramed protocol being activated. Sending pre-recorded message anonymously to Central tower.]

Index446 Scamming Alfonso 3

Index

Book

The next day, as per the deal, Alfonso handed in a formal resignation and recommendation for Travis, quoting that he saw himself in his earlier days in this kid.

There had been such strange requests before, and the job of those in the administrative department of the Central tower was just to approve the requests after checking that all the proper channels were being used.

Everything looked fine, and by the end of the day, Travis Eclair had a post on the Central tower, where he was in charge of handing out the payments for all the normal humans in the sect.

Mundane posts like these in the Central tower were mostly overlooked, and were only favored because of the easy pay. However, there were many better ones, and because this job involved doing some legwork, powerful and talented Warriors actually avoided it as they didn't want to waste their time. Instead, they would rather prefer to find something else to grow stronger, faster.

As Alfonso had never been someone too talented, he had been happy with this job, but the main reason was that he simply loved everything he could do to all the women in the Border Village.

Still, he had decided to give that all up to increase his lifespan.

After his end of the deal was done, he simply shook hands with Travis and left to go to the mine, trusting in the oath which could not be broken in any way. Although there were rumors that Champions and those above might have a chance, that was, of course, too far away from him.

The next two days passed peacefully. Instead of beginning to mine the Ker Gems immediately, Alfonso decided to absorb all of the mist first, so he simply sat inside and trained all day long.

On the morning of the third day, everything still seemed fine, but he suddenly felt someone trespass over the formation that he had set up in the direction of the sect.

He initially ignored this, thinking it was just some woodcutter, but when the second formation that was placed after it also got triggered, he panicked and got up.

The blonde haired kid could definitely not have told anyone else about this, so he wondered whether he was just unlucky.

Of course, they were definitely just passerbys, and there was no way of them knowing that he was here, underground.

Only, he had placed one final formation right beside the Bush which had the entrance to the mine, and when he suddenly felt it triggered too, he quickly tried to teleport away.

However, to his shock, he realized that an anti-teleportation formation had been set up at some point without his knowledge.

He was an Exalted Warrior! For a formation to activate without even him knowing about it… It had to mean that it was at least at the Peak Champion level!

As he realized this horrific fact, he decided to leave.

Until now, he had been sitting at the front of the mine which was in the form of a long corridor, and he had been training with his eyes closed.

During his panic, he had only looked up at the entrance. Now, when he decided to escape, he turned around and was about to cast the spell to burrow into the ground, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw a sight that was even more horrifying than the knowledge that the sect had caught wind of this mine.

All of the Ker gems were gone!

All those shining prisms had disappeared, replaced by faint fragments of Ker gems here and there, as if they had been dug out extensively.

Only the smallest amount of mist was left, as he had been busy absorbing it all this time.

What the hell was going on?

No… It didn't matter! He had to get out of here first!

However, the pause due to his shock was enough for the Champions who had been sent by the sect to descend into the hole and find Alfonso standing there like a statue.

Noticing that he was just about to cast a spell, the two Champions immediately cast anti-spells.

If Daneel had been here, he would have been startled to see that their way of spell work was very reminiscent of what the Domination Corps had used in the Olympics to shock everyone.

"Enough. Resist, and we won't hesitate to tear you apart. Just come quietly. If you're innocent, nothing will happen to you."

As one of the Champions said this while casting immobilization spells by making the air around the target heavy by using metal elementary particles, Alfonso only nodded, knowing that the jig was up.

He couldn't even take on one Champion in direct combat- there was simply no hope of going up against two.

Three hours later, when he found himself in a cell underneath the Central tower, he only had one question in his mind.

How in hell had this happened?!

…

The news that a member of the Central tower had been arrested for committing one of the few crimes that one could get jailed for in the Sect of Hedon spread like wildfire.

Hiding information of Ker Gem mines from the sect was something that even the bravest of sect members wouldn't do, but it seemed that this particular one had a nasty streak of doing anything and everything to gain power.

Because he was jailed now, all of his past got dug up, including the cruel way he behaved with all the women who were actually sweethearts of the sect members who regularly visited the Border Village, and the way he had gotten his post using underhanded means.

Normally, such things were common and remained hidden, but now that the perpetrator was behind bars with no hope of being released for a long, long time, everyone began to talk.

Of course, his appointment of Travis in his post also became known, but a rumor soon started to spread that explained this.

Apparently, Travis had found out about the mine, and he had been about to go to the sect to report it. However, Alfonso had threatened him and had made him swear an oath that he wouldn't tell anyone, also going so far as to give him his post so that they would be known to be accomplices together if it ever got out. Also, Travis was under Alfonso's control, and Alfonso needed to go into closed door training for a long time to take that last step towards becoming a Peak Warrior. So, he had appointed Travis so that he could simply take back his post if he wanted, after he was done.

This made perfect sense!

No one knew where the rumor started, but it kept spreading and spreading until it even got into the ears of the sect officials who was placed in charge of investigating the cover-up of this mine.

From the indications of the mist that was remaining in the mine, it became clear that it had existed since a long time, and the extra Energy in that land had already been sapped dry.

Alfonso had always had more Ker gems than he was supposed to, and many had always thought that this was because he shaved off a small amount from all of the payments he was supposed to make. However, now, it became clear that these extra gems came from the mine, and when the humans of the Border Village were asked about this after being told that they needn't fear retribution from Alfonso, they answered that they got their pay in full, although the man regularly delayed payments so that he could do whatever he wanted with those related to these poor people.

As all the facts started to add up, the case against Alfonso became clearer and clearer, and it no longer remained a doubt whether he needed to be imprisoned.

It was a pity to lose an Exalted Warrior like that, but punishments like these had to be carried out, lest others repeat such infractions without being afraid of repercussions.

One day later, the sect leader passed the final verdict – Alfonso would be imprisoned for a period of 50 years.

He kept claiming that this was all a scam, but of course, no one believed him.

The night that he was incarcerated, the entire Border Village lit up as if there was a festival going on.

By all rights, Travis should have been the chief guest, but because it was better not to arouse any suspicion, the women settled with profusely thanking him and telling him once again that they would forever be indebted to him.

Many actually walked up and gave him hugs and kisses on his cheek, and when they saw him blush a little from time to time due to this, they laughed gently, but didn't mock him.

As Daneel walked back to his dormitory with many marks of lipstick on his cheeks, he couldn't help but pat himself on his back.

The Nigerian prince plan had worked perfectly, and it also felt great to have helped out so many sweet women.

The image of the mine being full of Ker Gems had been an illusion using "Mind Control", but the mist had been real: Daneel had covertly transported it over from his own Natural Energized Training Chamber, which was why the sect hadn't suspected that the entire mine might be fake. Daneel, had, of course, dug out the mine and placed those fragments of the gems to make it look real.

To escape the oath, the key had been the system – although he had sworn not to tell anything to the sect, he had already done all the preparations and preprogrammed them into the system before asking it to execute all of the tasks, like sending the tip to the sect.

The sect was still puzzled as to who sent that tip, but because of all the facts, they let it go, thinking that it might just be someone who had picked up on some clues, or might have a vendetta against Alfonso.

Also, he had used a special spell that worked similar to the one which made simulations appear, albeit being simpler, to introduce those suggestive thoughts in Alfonso's mind so that he wouldn't question anything too much and go along with it.

And of course, the rumor was his work.

[Achievement unlocked: Crusader of Justice.

Crusader of Justice: By going out of your way to help those who couldn't help themselves, you have shown the attitude that a person on the righteous path of World Domination should have. They will forever remember you, and if the need ever arises, they will not hesitate to follow you. It is events like these that build up the support that every World Dominator must have. Congratulations!

5000 EXP earned.]

A nice bonus on top, too!

With his smile widening even further, Daneel got to his dormitory and fell on the bed.

One job was done, and although it had been very fun and gratifying, it was now time to get back to his main goals.

Index447 Entering the Hidden Vaul

Index

Book

The next day.

As Daneel walked to the main entrance of the Central Tower, he saw many sect members whispering among themselves while looking at him.

The large, wooden double doors which were artfully ingrained with gilded patterns were open. The last time, when he had entered with the key that he had used 10,000 Ker gems to buy, he had only been able to use the back entrance, which was much less glamorous.

Using the system, Daneel eavesdropped on one of the conversations between two people who were shooting glances at him while talking between themselves with low voices.

"All those missing things from Alfonso's case still bug me. Who sent in the tip? Why hadn't that mine been found all this time? How did Alfonso not cause any suspicion over all this time? Why are all the regular humans claiming that he hasn't been mooching off of their income? And this mop-haired brat. I don't know. I just feel like he is at the center of it. And it's not just me, you know. The others let it go as he can't be touched according to the rules, but I'm not prepared to."

Daneel's heart skipped a beat as he heard this, but the reply from the other person calmed him down.

"Too bad the challenge for his post was taken just three days ago. We still have to wait 26 days to get someone to challenge him, so that we can beat him up to get answers. I already contacted some people who are interested in getting the post. Let's just wait. He'll definitely be careful, so it's not worth plotting against him. He can't run anywhere, anyway."

With this, the two stop looking at him and walked inside the Central tower, after shooting glances filled with derision, making it clear that they didn't believe that he deserved a place inside.

The reason behind Daneel calming down was that he was safe for almost a month.

He had no intention of staying that long, because if he did, he would have to either be beaten up to a pulp or reveal his power, and he was definitely not going to do the latter.

He hoped that a month was more than enough to finish everything he needed to do inside the sect, and he had no time to waste.

Just like they said, conversations like these were everywhere, and he had a large target painted on his back. After all, he was an Amateur Warrior who was in a post which paid enough to entice Exalted Warriors.

Getting to his office which was a small pie-shaped stone room with one window, he saw that all of Alphonso's things were still here, such as a few of his clothes and some trinkets.

Obviously, the man hadn't been given enough time to clean them out.

Claiming them all for his own shamelessly, Daneel sat down on the chair in front of the small desk in the room and first used the key he had been given after obtaining the official post to open a hidden compartment, in which there were pouches of Ker gem shavings.

These were all of the pending payments that Alphonso had been holding back, so the first thing he did was pick them all up and go to the Border Village.

As he saw each of the honest workers almost cry as they received what they were due, he truly felt glad from the bottom of his heart that he had targeted this bastard for his plan.

After being done with this and making sure not to visit places like the Red Herring again, he once again reached his office and set about his first task: to find the objects that Ashahell had taken from Lanthanor.

Instead of using the same method as before and risking being found out to be someone who was also present at a different place, Daneel did his homework and only chose the identities of those who were training.

Also, he tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, so that his face wouldn't be remembered by anyone.

To this purpose, he used a Champion level spell which had been developed by the system to make a faint blur appear on his face.

It made it so that if he was viewed in a group, he wouldn't draw attention, but he also would not stand out.

It was similar to the effect that came over humans when their eyes glazed over due to seeing too many faces at once.

By using such a foolproof method, Daneel began a very thorough sweep of the entire central tower.

He had already guessed that these items were placed in the most secure location inside the tower, but the problem was that this location was also hidden.

Hence, his objective was to find out where it was, so that he could start to plan what he would do to get inside.

Right now, he had three things to accomplish in the Central Tower, and in the sect:

1. Get back the items that Ashahell had taken from Lanthanor and look for clues regarding the remaining parts of the inheritance and trinket left behind by the Empire of Angaria, so that he could try and obtain them himself.

2. Finalise and set in place the plan to show that Ashahell was guilty of aiding and abetting the Church.

3. Kill all the scum who were going to be sent after him soon for revenge.

He could only wait to accomplish the third and hope that an opportunity arose before he left, but the first two had to be finished ASAP.

Daneel also had to be quite covert during his operations, so that he wouldn't risk drawing too much attention to himself. It didn't help at all that he was in the spotlight right now, due to Alphonso's case.

Before, during his search, Daneel had only covered everything briefly, but now, he spent his time in each area, allowing the system to deeply analyze the formation while looking for clues regarding exactly what was inside, and whether there was a way for him to sneak inside without trying to controlling the Core of the formation.

Time passed in this way, with him spending most of the day loitering around different areas of the sect in different disguises, while collecting Ker gems for his post and training in the remaining time.

After reaching the warrior level, Daneel felt as if his progress had slowed down, and that was mainly due to the fact that Ker gems just weren't good enough resources anymore. He needed something of higher quality, but the only one available to him was the fish from the Endless Sea, but that cost too much.

His progress had really slowed down and this frustrated him, but he couldn't do anything about it and only resolved to find ways to solve it after all of his present predicaments were behind him.

One and a half weeks later, he finally got a break – the system had identified a method through careful analysis for Daneel to infiltrate the hidden, higher portion of the tower, where all of the important areas were.

The method was that these areas needed maintenance weekly, and when someone used teleportation to reach them, the core Hero level formation of the sect would allow it for a split second.

Using another Peak Champion level spell developed by the system which enabled him to follow that someone by fooling the Hero level formation to think that he was an insect on the man's skin, Daneel finally accomplished his first objective.

Apparently, the higher areas of the Tower were divided into sections, and this maintenance man was only here to service one.

He had teleported into a winding stone corridor with a single on one side, and luckily, he had teleported right behind the man.

His appearance was distraction enough, so using the "Mind Control" spell, Daneel made the man think that he had been mistaken, and that there was no one else here.

Shaking his head, the man, who was an Exalted Warrior, used his blood to open the door, and Daneel sneaked in behind him.

He had entered a large room which had many bookcases and podiums everywhere. There were at least 50 stone podiums, but the items on top of them were shrouded in white mist.

Sadly, these seemed to be the sect-preserving trinkets, which were being actively protected by the core formation.

It was the same with the bookshelves, which definitely must be holding the core inheritances of the sect.

Daneel was about to be disappointed, but to his surprise, he spied a section to the side which seemed forgotten.

There were multiple podiums here, too, but they were all empty.

Wait, no-one wasn't.

It contained the items Ashahell had taken from Lanthanor, and there wasn't even any white mist covering them!

Rejoicing, Daneel walked to that area silently and saw that there was also a single bookcase here, which were similarly not being treated with the same importance as the others, like in the case of the podium.

Clearly, the sect did not attach that much importance to just one part of that legendary inheritance and trinket, and had hence opted not to spend valuable Energy to actively guard this area.

After all, it was true that they had always known of the existence of these things, but they had allowed them to stay inside the core formations of the forces in the central continent, or in the other locations.

But why were there so many podiums here in the first place?

He was about to get more questions, but hearing the maintenance man finishing going about his work, Daneel realized that he had to hurry.

If he hadn't spent so much time to study each and every aspect of the Central tower, he would never have found this opening. Hence, satisfied that his hard work had paid off, Daneel completely utilized the opportunity and absorbed all of the books on the bookshelf, while staring fondly at the items from Lanthanor and wishing he could take them right now.

He had a few seconds, so Daneel took out one book and read the first page.

The information about the book recorded on the first page hit him like a lightning bolt, and almost made him drop the book.

It was a journal written by a scholar of the Sect of Hedon who had gone to all of the forces of the Central Continent to study the parts left behind and the Empire Spirits!

This meant that…he could finally find out just where the heck all the parts were!

However, a sentence written in large font on the second page stood out, and as Daneel read it, his eyebrows rose to the top of his head, while his hands started to shake.

"Beware of Empire Spirits! They are the remnant consciousnesses of Heros from the Empire of Angaria which want to revive themselves and their Empire by enticing people to train in their inheritances!"

Index448 Pile of Information

Index

Book

Daneel had to re-read the line 3 times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but by the time he was ready to form any thoughts about it, he heard the maintenance man walk towards the door.

If he left, Daneel would be trapped in here indefinitely, as the core formation would 'lock up' the room.

So, quickly putting the book back and taking one last glance at the items from Lanthanor, Daneel quietly made his way back to the door and exited along with the maintenance man.

After that, he went back in the same way: making the formation think that he was an insect.

It was only after he finally got back to his dormitory did Daneel sit down and revisit the revelation he had just been subjected to.

His fingers forming a tent, he placed them below his chin to prop his head up before closing his eyes.

The Empire Spirit…was not a sentience, as had been indicated by the system when he had first come in contact with it.

If he thought about it, the system had never actually said that it was artificial; only, no one could have made the connection that it was the remnant consciousness of Heros.

If what he had read was right…then Daneel had conversed with someone who had been dead for tens of thousands of years.

For someone like that, the only desire would be to leave such confinement, and apparently, he was supposed to be the route for it to accomplish just that.

Taking a deep breath, Daneel first thought back to every interaction he had had with the Empire Spirit.

Now that he thought about it, all the Kings before him had been fascinated with the knowledge that was supposedly stored inside it.

Each and every one of them had even made it their goal to find out just what amazing techniques and secrets the Empire Spirit was hiding, but none of them had succeeded, except for him.

It was so obvious!

Even from the Empire Spirit's attitude!

That aloofness, arrogance, and pride would make one think that it truly was some wondrous man-made sentience left behind to be inherited by future generations, but the truth was that it was all an act to draw them in and give birth to interest, and need.

The 'satisfaction level' was definitely to bar entry to all but those who were most talented, and it was also possible that it was important for some other reason, like, for instance, mastering the Ruler's Inheritance, which clearly depended on having people loyal to oneself around them

To think that he had been so excited when he had finally been able to unlock its first level and obtain that inheritance.

He had even done so much keeping this objective in mind!

At this moment, Daneel felt a sheer mass of frustration overtake him.

All this time, he had thought that the Empire Spirit had rewarded him for accomplishing something so significant, but instead, it had only been judging whether he was good enough, while encouraging him to fatten himself up for slaughter.

He felt like clapping at the intelligence of whoever the Empire Spirit was a remnant of. All this time, it had simply been sitting and waiting for the perfect body and mind to come along, and it seemed that it's wish had finally come true.

Immediately, Daneel said in his mind, "System, is there any backdoor in the Ruler's Inheritance? Any side-effect, which can enable the spirit to take control of me if I become adept enough in it?"

[Negative. System has found no such mechanism.]

Great. Then that just meant that whatever was hidden inside was beyond the level of a Champion.

Daneel didn't even doubt for a second that the information in the book could be wrong. It had been stored in the most secure vault in the Sect! Just him being able to reach it was a miracle, so the information contained in it was definitely very important, and very true.

Besides, all the facts just added up! It was like a jigsaw puzzle falling in place, but the problem was that Daneel hadn't even known that he had a puzzle in his hands for the first time.

This really taught him not to believe anyone or anything on this land.

The only one he could trust was himself.

Of course, this didn't mean that he would go around suspecting everyone.

No, Daneel decided that he would just take everything with a pinch of salt, even if it came from someone very close to him.

He knew better than anyone just how powerful spells like Mind Control were, and he knew for a fact that Champions were capable of casting spells like those, let alone Heros, whose means were mysterious, but definitely much more frightening.

With a sigh of relief, he felt really glad that he hadn't placed too much focus on the Ruler's Inheritance before going to the Sect of Hedon.

It had been dumb luck!

Daneel had had a mission to go out of his Kingdom, so he had abandoned it temporarily while resolving to come back to it when he had the time. After all, a 5x amplification wasn't a joke.

Instead, if he had chosen to stay and master it, he couldn't even begin to think about what might have happened.

Wiping the sweat that sprang up on his forehead at this thought, Daneel sighed with relief and asked the system to relay the other important information that it had recorded from the other books in the Vault.

It turned out that he had struck the motherlode.

[The data collected is about the travels that scholars from different generations embarked on to discover more about the Empire spirits and the parts of the inheritance and trinket left behind by the Empire of Angaria. System has noticed a general trend in their discoveries, and this has been remarked upon extensively, being the basis from which the line that host read was derived.

The information can be summarised in 5 important points.

Empire Spirits are not named so because they can only be found in the present 'Empires', as some believe. Instead, their name is derived from the fact that they are the living remains of the last Empire of Angaria. They exist in all of the forces in the Central Continent, but one by one, they started to cease to exist. There have been cases of them finding suitable hosts in the past, but the Big 4 have always been able to find these hosts and kill them before they got too powerful. Once, this even resulted in the decline of a then-powerful part of the Big 4, the Withering Leaf Sect, as their Hero-level elder and several Champions died during the battle to stop the Empire Spirit from accomplishing its goals.

2. All the information found in all Empire Spirits is the same- they entice people with authority using top-notch Core Inheritances. The specific one chosen to give to an individual varies. The method and the checklist of things that need to be fulfilled for the Empire Spirit to take over a person are unknown.

3. The most popular theory regarding Empire Spirits was that there were many more of them even outside the main forces of the Central Continent, but they were the remnants of weaker Heroes. Continuing to exist as an Empire Spirit requires an iron will to not succumb to boredom due to the passage of time, which is not capable of all individuals. Only the strongest remain.

4. There are 4 Empire Spirits left on Angaria: one each in the Kingdoms of Lanthanor, Arafell, Eldinor, and Axelor.

5. There is a prominent theory with proof that the Core Inheritances contained in the Empire Spirits are lesser versions derived from the Root Inheritance which was split apart by the Empire.]

As Daneel slowly digested this pile of information, he once again reaffirmed his decision to not touch the Ruler's Inheritance again, no matter what.

But…what if the Basilisk's Breath was also something like that? What if it had been given by the Empire Spirit to the founders of the Hidden Kill Sect to be used on those who wanted to learn? After all, only one with true talent could comprehend it by being beaten up, which sounded just like another test to choose a suitable host for an Empire Spirit.

Those bastard Heroes.

Why couldn't they just die in peace and leave the future generations alone?

And wait…the Kingdom of the Elves had an Empire Spirit? Why hadn't he found one?

Oh, yes. He hadn't looked for one, and he hadn't exactly been interested in finding other Empire Spirits-that thought hadn't crossed his mind, as he had been too busy busting his ass trying to satisfy the one he had, while it kept watching on as the chicken it was going to cook and eat paraded around, getting fatter and marinading itself for its pleasure.

Well, he still couldn't get over this frustration!

Calming himself down, Daneel asked the system whether there was any information regarding the locations and number of the other parts of the inheritance and trinket left behind.

He hadn't given up on finding those: in fact, Daneel would be lying if he didn't admit that he hoped that finding them would allow him a way to use the Inheritances without running a risk of becoming a sacrificial goat.

[Affirmative. There are 6 parts. Their locations are the 6 major forces in the Central Continent.]

Wait..what the hell?

So it was as he had imagined?!

Then where had the parts that were supposed to be in Eldinor and the Black Raven Kingdom gone?!

Who the hell could have taken them?

Suddenly finding his quest much harder than he had imagined it to be, Daneel was going to sigh in exasperation when a communication trinket vibrated in his pocket.

It was the one he had given Percy as Master Novrain, which meant that the Mad Doctor had left the sect, giving him the opportunity he had been looking for.

Finally, at least something was going his way.

Index449 Percy, Again

Index

Book

Leaving the sect through the secret exit he had been shown by Jessica, Daneel made his way to the forest with residual energy for the third time to meet with Percy.

Just like before, he first made sure that Percy was alone from a distance before teleporting to him.

As soon as Percy saw his Master appear behind him as usual, he exclaimed, "Master! My father has left the sect on some important business! He won't be coming back for a day… It's the best time to strike!"

As Daneel saw the enthusiasm on Percy's face, if he had been the man before this revelation with the Empire spirit had taken place, he might have been inclined to directly believe the kid because of all the interactions they had had so far.

However, right now, he just couldn't do so.

For some reason, he felt that something was off, and this wasn't even any sort of paranoia that might have formed due to his recent experience and frustration.

Still, how was he supposed to verify what was true and what wasn't?

First, not wanting to arouse any suspicion in Percy, he grabbed the kid's shoulder and said, "Good job! I'll set my plan in motion… Don't worry, come dawn tomorrow, your brother will be no more. Just relax and go back to the sect. Your rewards will also soon reach you."

At the mention of the word 'rewards', Percy's eyes twinkled, just like they normally would.

Everything definitely looked normal on the surface, but again, Daneel wasn't convinced.

"Thank you, Master! I'll go back to the sect then, before anyone notices that I'm missing!"

Saying so, Percy was just about to teleport away, but Daneel tightened his grip on the kid's shoulder.

A cold look came on his face, and his eyes turned razer-sharp.

"You aren't leading me or your senior disciple into a trap, right?", he asked suddenly, making fear appear on Percy's face.

He had been smiling genially just a second ago, so such a sudden change in attitude startled Percy, resulting in him needing a moment to assemble his thoughts.

After he did, he immediately fell on his knees.

Lowering his head, he spoke in a grave voice.

"I am ready to swear any oath you wish from me, Master. I have no ill intentions against you. All I want is the end of those disgusting scum who don't deserve to live. Master has been very kind to me. Even if I have to give up my life, I am ready to prove my loyalty."

Not a hint of panic had flashed across his face, even when Daneel had enacted his plan of trying to eke out a reaction using surprise.

The fear had only been that which had formed because of the knowledge that he might have lost the trust of the Master whom he 'adored' so much.

Even his speech had been told in an even and serious tone, with all the signs of being from someone who really was ready to do what they were saying.

After a pregnant silence came over the forest for a few seconds, it was broken by Daneel laughing out loud wildly.

This was his Master Novrain laugh, and hearing it, Percy looked up from his position on the ground where he had been kneeling.

"Of course I had to ask, kid. Get out of here. You'll hear good news tomorrow."

As Percy heard this, he rejoiced in his heart before beaming.

Yes, indeed, such a figure would definitely at least consider the possibility.

Besides, he might just have brought it up to warn Percy never to even think of doing anything like that.

Getting up, he smiled at his Master and lingered for a moment, his gaze taking in the man's figure, before teleporting away.

This location was quite far from the Sect of Hedon, so even a Warrior needed to teleport multiple times to get to it.

His first teleport took him to a random spot between the forest with the Energy remnants and the Sect.

Without continuing to teleport again, Percy carefully descended to the ground while looking around to make sure that no one had followed.

After landing, he did another round of checking, this time using Champion level trinkets that were supposed to be quite expensive. Usually, Warriors seldom possessed trinkets of such value.

Seeing that the coast was clear, he first put the trinkets away before leaning on the trunk of a tree for support.

Closing his eyes, he remembered the image of the arrogant, yet fair man that he had just met.

He went through each and every interaction he had with him, from his first 'acting' episode, to the situation when he had had to get inventive to deliver wine bottles.

Sadly, come tomorrow, the man would mostly be no more.

At least, even if he wasn't the one to die, all relations he had with him would be severed, which would effectively mean the same thing.

His snivelly appearance was gone, replaced by one of extreme sadness, grief, and frustration.

Sinking to the ground, he bent his legs and hugged them before starting to rock to and fro.

If anyone happened upon him right now, they would definitely think that he was a child who had been kicked over and over again.

As Daneel watched him while standing right in front of him, he felt such a sheer amount of pity that he had to resist the urge to go forward and console the kid.

Even though Percy had shown no reaction whatsoever due to his sudden question, eking out the truth using that method hadn't been his main objective.

Instead, it had been to use that moment after distracting him using the sudden question to use the Mind Control spell on him.

Using the spell to make Percy think that he was alone, he had followed the kid to this place.

Daneel had already had experience fooling trinkets like those which Percy had used, so the system had taken care of them.

After that, he had watched as the kid's mask collapsed, resulting in him crumpling to the ground.

He looked so…wretched. Pathetic. Miserable.

Clearly, his childhood had been much worse than he had let on.

Daneel was still unclear regarding the exact reason behind him choosing to collapse now and go into this state.

However, he could tell that his suspicion had been right.

Something was wrong.

Frankly, he was also quite shocked at the kid's acting abilities.

There hadn't even been a single hint before!

Of course, even now, it could be that this collapse was only something Percy allowed himself to have whenever he exited the sect, and that it had no relation to Daneel's plan.

Just as he was about to wish that there was some way to confirm the exact reason, he heard a low voice chanting something in the clearing.

Percy's head was between his legs, while his hands were hugging them. Obviously, the sound was coming from him.

Wanting to find out what it was, Daneel tiptoed towards him, even though he knew that the spell would make it so that Percy wouldn't notice him even if he stomped around.

As he got close and finally heard the contents of the chant clearly, he stepped back with his mouth hanging open with shock.

"My Mother, Kelsey. My best friend, Bonnie. My half-brother, Bruce. My half-sister, Overa. My…"

This list went on and on, spanning over 40 names, but what had shocked Daneel so much was the last one, and what followed after.

"…My Master, Gonver. My Master, Novrain. He killed them all. I must live long enough to kill him."

Over and over again, this chilling chant reverberated in the clearing.

With each time it repeated, his tone seemed to get stronger and stronger.

Finally, when he stopped the rocking along with the chant, his eyes when he looked up were bloodshot.

He seemed to be imagining an image, and his expression was filled with such bloodthirstiness that Daneel wondered just how this kid was even sane.

This only lasted for a second before vanishing, replaced by that same punchable, snivelly kid that Daneel knew.

No…that Daneel had thought he knew.

Calmly getting up and dusting off his clothes, he took out a communication trinket and said, "It's done, father," before taking a deep breath and teleporting away.

Daneel didn't follow him this time. Instead, he stayed in that glade as he sank into deep thought.

Either the Mad Doctor had found the locating trinket that Percy had left behind and threatened him to do this, or this entire thing had been a plan by the Mad Doctor to draw him to the Sect.

Both possibilities had reasons for being correct or wrong, but Daneel decided not to dwell on that now.

No, he first had to decide what he was going to do. Should he skip this mission as the Mad Doctor was definitely waiting for him?

As Daneel thought about it, he remembered what he had promised himself after that close shave with death from Ashahell.

He was equipped with a system that had Peak Champion complexity level. He wasn't even walking into a trap. If he still decided to act safe, then he would just be an undeserving coward.

As Daneel made his decision, his eyes seemed to shine like two torches of blazing fire in the darkness.

Those scum were going to die, but the Mad Doctor wouldn't know what hit him.

As for Percy, a strange thought appeared in Daneel's mind regarding him, and he couldn't even tell where it had come from.

Even though he had only taken on the kid as a disciple on a whim, maybe it was time to really act as his Master.

A Master who treated his disciple's problems as his own.

Index450 Justice

Index

Book

{WARNING: GORE TOWARDS THE END OF THE CHAPTER.}

After thinking for a good while what he was going to do next, Daneel teleported back to the sect.

The main issue he had right now was whether he could pull this operation off without using the Basilisk's Breath, which he had gotten quite used to after utilizing it almost daily since he had obtained it.

After the disturbing revelation regarding the Empire Spirit, Daneel couldn't discount the possibility that there might be a backdoor in the technique which could leave him wide open for possession.

Yes, he had started to call it 'possession' in his head, as he had started to treat the remnants of those Heroes as pesky but dangerous demons that he had to get rid of if possible.

As there had been cases before where the Empire Spirits had almost succeeded in taking over someone's body, Daneel had asked the system to look for information regarding this process, and whether it was possible for it to happen even if one was far away from any Empire Spirit.

After all, it made sense that the poor individuals who had been trapped by the Empire Spirits must have trusted them fully.

[All reports point to the victim being in close proximity of the Empire Spirit, and even continuously having to be in contact with the physical container of the Empire Spirit during the transfer. Usually, the guise of opening the last level and giving the strongest inheritance in Angaria is used.]

Those sly assh*les.

Well, this was good news, but still, Daneel decided to only use the inheritance if he had no other way. After all, just because something hadn't happened before didn't mean it couldn't happen now. Besides, according to what he had heard, the Spirits that had survived to this day were the strongest of those from that era, and that might mean that they had far more tricks than the others.

With this thought, Daneel was once again reminded of Eldinor, and his decision to pay a visit to that place to check for the Empire Spirit.

However, he needed to take care of this matter first.

Taking out the other part of the locator trinket given by Percy, Daneel checked it and saw that the location it was pointing to was near the south border of the Sect.

The south of the Sect was mainly overrun by forests, unlike the other three sides which had more inhabitants and important structures set up.

It was said that this area was meant to be the place where resting areas and homes would be built and assigned to the Heroes of the Sect.

However, with the decline of Energy, Heroes had become few and far in between and this area was just a forgotten landscape with occasional ruins of grand mansions that had once existed there.

These structures had all been ignored for the past few hundreds of years, so nature had taken its course and reclaimed those areas for its own.

The locator trinket was indicating that the place where the Mad Doctor was waiting for him was at a depth of 1400 m under the ground, at a spot that was marked by the remnants of a large mansion.

Daneel was surveying the place from high up in the sky, while making sure with the system that no one was surveilling him.

He had come up with a simple plan: somehow pull the Mad Doctor away, so that he could step in, kill them all, and leave.

However, this plan had a major flaw: the Mad Doctor's secret bunker would definitely have advanced teleportation detection formations that even Daneel would need a few seconds to fool completely.

The moment the Mad Doctor got the signal that he had arrived, he would teleport back, meaning that Daneel would have less than a second to kill all of the scum.

These were all Warriors, with tough bodies that would require Daneel to cast a strong spell in order to kill them all in such a short span of time.

Hesitantly, he asked the system whether it was possible.

[Negative. Host's speed of casting at Amateur Warrior level is insufficient according to the projections.]

There it was.

The limitation of his damn power!

Although Daneel was equipped with a Peak Champion complexity level system, he was only an Amateur Warrior.

It was exactly like back when he had had the system at the Peak Warrior level: although he could cast spells at that complexity, he just couldn't do it as quickly as an actual Warrior.

In other words, he was like a horse carriage being steered by an F-1 driver.

The driver wanted to go fast, but the horses just couldn't oblige.

So, that plan was out of the question.

However, as Daneel stood in the air and thought among the swirling clouds, he suddenly got a brainwave.

He had been considering all of the tools he had, so he had managed to hit upon an idea.

"System, is it possible to combine Mind Control with the Basilisk's Breath?"

….

In the underground room which had various pits scattered around.

All of those who had been involved in that sensational activity in the Black Raven Kingdom were still here, submerged in the various liquids with only their head on the outside.

Meanwhile, the Mad Doctor was sitting in the center of the cave on a throne made of skulls that he loved to conjure when he was alone.

With his eyes closed and his head resting on his left hand that was propped up on the armrest, he looked like he was sleep, but the reality was that he was patiently waiting for his prey to arrive.

To think that that kid had thought that he would get away with placing a locator trinket in a place that was covered by a Champion's domain.

He had always thought that the kid didn't have enough backbone to even think about taking revenge on him.

Hence, he had ignored him, but this blatant action had made him focus on him again.

After flaying him alive and using all of his favorite torture methods, he had managed to make the kid swear to obey everything he said, effectively wiping away all possible risk from him.

Still, he had been able to see it in his eyes that the kid had only agreed to swear because it would mean staying alive to try again later.

Seeing this, he had rejoiced that his blood flowed in this bastard's veins, after all.

Well, he could knock himself out.

Instructing him to tell that ex-sect member of the Goddess's Sanctum that the coast of clear, he waited, looking forward to see who would appear.

It would either be the King of Lanthanor, or the ex-sect member himself.

Either way, the Mad Doctor would have a new plaything to pass his time.

Just as he was thinking whether he should send a clone to grab some food, he heard a sudden message in his ears.

"Breach has been detected in the Central Tower! All Champions, assemble with your true bodies!"

It was a direct order from the Sect master himself, so the Mad Doctor was just about to teleport away, but he paused as a thought occurred to him.

Could this be a ploy to pull him away so that his son and the others could be targeted?

He was an old monster that had lived for hundreds of years, and he was even known for his wicked cunningness.

So, it was natural that such a simple ploy which was at the level of a child occurred to him.

Hence, even though there was no time, the Mad Doctor left behind an Amateur Champion level clone of his before teleporting to the headquarters of the sect.

His opponent wouldn't have chosen such a simple plan, right?

Wrong.

As soon as he teleported away, he felt the teleportation detection formations go off, which made him shift his consciousness to his clone with a cold smile on his face.

As soon the image in front of his eyes shifted from the corridor in the Central Tower he had teleported to to the underground cave, he saw a man with a broad back standing in front of him.

"Hey, guys! Happy deathday!", he shouted, drawing the shocked attention of all the submerged sect members in the room, who saw him and widened their eyes.

By this time, the Mad Doctor had already lunged forward at a dizzying speed, moving so fast that only a blur could be seen.

His hands were stretched out like claws, and in a moment, he would tear through his opponent.

However, just before he got his hands on the intruder, the man vanished, leaving behind nothing but empty air.

Dammit! He had gotten away!

Although the plan had been simple, it was effective: all Champions were required to definitely report to the Central Tower as quickly as possible when summoned by the Sect Master.

Immediately notifying the Sect Leader that there was an intruder in the sect, the Mad Doctor turned to his son and the others to make sure they were Ok.

Although their faces seemed frozen due to the shock, they looked all right.

The enemy had gotten away, but he had not accomplished his goal.

It did feel very, very frustrating, but the Mad Doctor still took solace in this fact.

Well, all hell would break loose soon anyway when the news about the inheritance that belonged to the King of Lanthanor would get out, so he could use that opportunity to target both that bratty King and his master once again.

Closing his eyes, he was just about to disperse his clone and shift consciousness back to his main body, when he suddenly felt that something was very, very wrong.

By the time he opened his eyes again, it was too late.

"AAAAHHH! FREEEE-"

"NO MORE! NO MORE! NO-"

"HAHA! YOU CAN'T CHASE ME NOW-"

As loud screams like these reverberated in the cave suddenly, they became replaced by gurgling sounds, due to the fact that each and every one of the teenagers in the pools had killed themselves.

Some had cast spells to behead themselves. Others had plucked out their hearts and crushed them with their hands. One had even cast a spell to mince his own body in little pieces, which floated in the liquid.

Frantically, the Mad Doctor looked towards his son's pool.

Drawing in a sharp breath, he saw that his son had chosen to gouge his eyes out. Wait, no, it wasn't just his eyes…all of his organs, including his manhood that had grown back, had been separated from his body by himself and were floating beside his lifeless head.

As the Mad Doctor took in this sight, he raised his head and roared in agony, while veins popped up on his forehead, looking like they would burst at any moment and unleash hell on this world.

Meanwhile, the one responsible for this unbelievable occurrence had just lied down on the bed in his dormitory, his eyes shining with the light of one who had just meted out justice while simultaneously also pulling out weeds that would have bothered him later.

As a notification sounded in his head, a small smile came on his face, while he ticked off an item on his list.

[Newly developed spell "Eternity in a Breath" deployed successfully. All traces of the spell's execution have been erased.]

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